Search for the Dominion Glass

Gr 5—8—Twelve-year-old Jay Winnick and his three friends run the Rockville Paranormal Investigation Corps (RPIC), an after-school ghost-hunting business. Pam is the local psychic's ambivalent daughter; Danni is a self-confident, self-taught forensics junkie; and Brian is a popular jock in public and nerd in private. They soon discover that their public library's rare book room is haunted; its shelves are stocked with scores of important paranormal books. Surprisingly, they also discover that the librarians are martial-arts-trained members of the Association for Paranormal Matters looking for eager ghost hunters to embark on a mission for them. They're told they must retrieve the Dominion Glass, a crystal that allows whoever wields it to summon and control spirits of the dead. With the help of an ancient book, their mysterious quest includes tackling the spiritual world of ghosts, riddles, spirit boards, crop circles, battling a fire in a rare-books room, a midair fight between a helicopter and a hot-air balloon, and a ghost attack in a cave. Readers will surely enjoy uncovering clues alongside the characters, including various illustrated puzzles and riddles. Snippets of paranormal encyclopedia entries, dream sequences, and IM conversations are scattered throughout the text. Heimberg also introduces MagicView, an amazing new technology that allows readers to press an interactive plastic lens (which can be easily lost) to the page to discover hidden images and words. Although a solid adventurous story line tries to reveal itself, a confusing ending leads readers to disappointment from clues that lead to a dead end.—Krista Welz, North Bergen Public Library, NJ