Paper Quake: A Puzzle

Violet, the youngest of the triplets, wants nothing more than to be just like her sisters. But to the rest of her family, she will always be Baby, the one who needs looking after because of her weak heart. And, now that a series of earthquakes is hitting the Bay Area, she’s the one that’s terrified of quakes. However, when each quake hit, Violet receives a mysterious message written during the months surrounding the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Each letter takes Violet a step closer to solving the mystery of “V” and Hal’s romance. As Violet gathers more clues, she becomes more confident and self-reliant. In the end, Violet must prevent a tragedy from happening and face her fears.

PaperQuake is a slow-paced mystery that takes show more some time to really capture the reader’s attention. Violet is somewhat flat at the start of the book, focusing only on her sisters and how she compares to them. However, as the plot develops, we begin to see more of Violet’s relationships with other characters – her parents, her best friend, and her new neighbor, Sam – and as a result, Violet grows as a person. Readers may have trouble with the dialogue, if only because it seems somewhat forced at times. The mystery, which has supernatural elements, is intriguing and will keep readers guessing. The ending is also somewhat open, leaving readers to decide for themselves about Laela’s actions in the past. Though it has its weak spots, PaperQuake is a fun read and an involving mystery. show less

I bought this book from the Scholastic Book Fair when I was 9 and remember reading it and loving it as a kid... so there’s 20 years of nostalgia attached to this book. Unfortunately, it didn’t really age well for me. Rereading it at 29, I found there was a lot of dated references and I hated how shallow the characters were. The temporal time travel bit relies HEAVILY on suspension of disbelief. The writing style also felt a bit awkward - a little too old for MG, but definitely not mature enough for modern YA. Adding to the fact that the main character calls in a fake bomb threat and is ultimately called a hero for it in the newspaper (although this is 1998! So they couldn’t trace the call - drat!) I actually hesitate to even show more recommend it to an appropriately aged reader... don’t want kids to think that stealing things from museums to solve mysteries and calling in bomb threats because you had a bad dream/vision is okay... eek. So this one fell pretty far for me. show less

Not really time travel, but a good mystery. A young girl coming into her own, finding her strengths and her confidence. Must be hard being a triplet when the world repeats three's a crowd. Especially being the odd one out. Heart warming to see Violet become whole. Good author. I'm glad to see I have Paint By Magic on my shelves. I'll pick it up soon.

I'm in the middle of this book and I love it!

A time-travel mystery.