Gr 4—7—Young Ben Bloomswell is staying with his uncle in New York City while his parents go off on their latest hush-hush mission. Nefarious kidnappers snatch him and stuff him inside a mechanical man that transports him to the grim Sugarhill School for Boys. After an escape involving masticating mastiffs and fire, Ben stows away on a cargo ship bound for his London home. There he meets Whip Peterson and John Holiday, circus performers who recognize his parents' names and offer to help him reach his sister's boarding school in Switzerland. They train Ben in evasive maneuvers that he uses to elude villainous armies of mechanical men who want to recapture him before he can reach Liza. The story ends with a lead on his parents' possible whereabouts and undoubtedly a sequel. This book starts cold and warms up by the middle. The introductory chapters do not properly settle readers into the alternate steampunk reality, Ben and his parents are not fully drawn, and Buitendag skates over secondary characters and settings with cursory details, weakening the story and leaving readers with too many questions. However, Ben's kidnapping is a claustrophobic, harrowing event that revs up the action and helps frame the protagonist's quest. Children who like Philip Reeve's steampunk fiction or the "39 Clues"-style adventure (Scholastic) will like the leaps and thrills despite the slow beginning.—Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT
After Ben discovers that his parents are secret agents--and that they're missing--he's catapulted into adventures that include escaping from an orphanage, stowing away aboard an ocean liner, and befriending a troupe of circus performers. The story, with its sci-fi and steampunk elements, is fast-paced and diverting. Ben leaves a trail of loose ends in his wake, hinting at a sequel.
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