Dust Jacket

Progress assessment of reading, writing, and listening for the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill reading program.

Having reluctantly accompanied his academic mother and pesky younger sister to Oxford, 12 year old Blake Winters is at loose ends. Then he stumbles across an ancient and magical book, secretly brought to England in 1453 by Gutenberg's mute apprentice to save it from evil forces, and which now draws Blake into a dangerous and life threatening quest.

Great potential, little delivery. The book builds up this mysterious book. A book filled with pure evil, but in the end it does very little with it. Very anticlimactic. I can't imagine it holding a tween's attention beyond page 50. ( )

Magnificent! I loved it. The story drew me in. The book picked the boy to bring it to life and to bring it to its end. There was action and adventure along with some history of Johann Gutenberg and his printing press. There is the madness of adults who want the book for the knowledge and power it gives. This is one of those rare books that stays with you. It opens your imagination to what you would do if you got this book. I loved Blake as he tries to discover the secret of the book and figure out the clues that appear to him in the book. I also enjoyed the story of the blank book. I enjoyed going back to Endymion Spring in the mid-1400's to learn how the book came to be but I especially enjoyed Blake taking the book and the clues and trying to figure out what he was to do. One of my top 10 reads! ( )