On the Blue Comet

Gr 4—7—Eleven-year-old Oscar and his father share a love for model trains and they set up an elaborate layout in their basement. After the Crash of 1929, Oscar's dad loses the house and the trains to the bank. The boy is sent to live with his aunt while his father goes to look for work in California. One day, while Oscar is visiting his trains which have been set up in the bank's Christmas display, he jumps into the train setup to avoid armed bank robbers and is catapulted through time and across the country. On the journey he meets famous people from the future and past as he searches for a way back to his own time and home. Malcolm Hillgartner reads Rosemary Wells's interesting and heartwarming story (Candlewick, 2010) in a pleasant, fatherly tone, giving each character a unique voice. However, it's disappointing that he doesn't consistently change Oscar's voice when time travel causes him to grow older or younger. Hillgartner attempts some celebrity impressions of the Hollywood stars and famous people mentioned in the book, but they will be lost on anyone under the age of 40. This audiobook does not reach the level of another time travel novel, Edward Bloor's London Calling (Knopf, 2006; Listening Library, 2006).—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT