The Storm Begins
Book
1: The
History Keepers:
Damian Dibben
Corgi
Random
House
August 2012
$16.95 AU
456p pb
ISBN: 978-0552564137
fp September 2011
Imagine
if you lost your parents – not just in place, but in time.
Jake Djones’ mum and dad have gone missing and they could be anywhere
in the world – at any time in history. Because the Djones family have
an astonishing secret, which for years they’ve managed to keep - even
from each other. They belong to the HISTORY KEEPERS: a secret society
which travels through the centuries to prevent evil enemies from
meddling with History itself.
In the quest to find his parents, Jake is whisked from 21st Century
London to 19th century France, the headquarters of the mysterious
History Keepers, where he discovers the truth about his family's
disappearance - and the dastardly Prince Zeldt's plan to destroy the
world as we know it . . .
At the start of the book Jake knows nothing about his parent’s alternate life, he thinks they just run their bathroom shop and then come home in the afternoons, true enough but when they go to the yearly Business Conventions’ they are really travelling through history. Soon even he gets involved in the organisation that his parents work for; he even, (sort of) gets a quest with his new friends, his quest is to find his parents... in history.
This is a good story that is very easy to read, so good that I found myself unable to put it down. The characters were described very well and had lifelike personalities that were quite varied and developed. This book is good for people aged from 8+ and for those who like adventure books or stories about past times. What I liked most about the book were the well-developed personalities and the plot/storyline of the book. Also the main character Jake Djones sounds a lot like me!
Jonathan, Year 7, Canberra, Australia
If you have read this novel and would like to share your opinion of it with other readers please send your review/comments to YARR-A