Sapphire Blue

September 1, 2012
In this second volume of the Ruby Red Trilogy, 16-year-old Gwen continues her time-traveling adventures as the newest member of the Circle of Twelve. In Ruby Red (2011), Gwen discovered she inherited a time-travel gene that makes her the final link in the Circle. Her life's now controlled by the Guardians, a secret society monitoring time travel through the chronograph. All 12 time travelers must be introduced into the chronograph so the Circle can be closed, and the Guardians have assigned Gwen and irresistible Gideon de Villiers the task of locating four missing time travelers. Adjusting to her new role, Gwen falls for Gideon, who fluctuates between wooing and ignoring her. Adding comic relief, a ghostly gargoyle adopts Gwen. As she ventures into the past, the contemporary Gwen peppers her first-person account with humorous asides. With guts and gumption, she cruises into an 18th-century soiree, where she entertains guests with a 20th-century tune. Gwen's obsessive schoolgirl crushing, complicated time switches and the Circle's undefined secrets may leave readers a bit clueless. Has Gideon manipulated Gwen? What's with the creepy Florentine Alliance? Is Gwen destined to play a fatal role closing the Circle, when "the secret will be revealed?" Hopefully, all will be revealed in the Emerald Green finale. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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January 1, 2013

Gr 7-11-In this volume, Gwyneth Shepherd, 16, is trying to reconcile her role as the Ruby, the final member in the Circle of Twelve, a secret time-travel society, with being a normal London teen. Complicating matters are her feelings for handsome Gideon de Villiers, a fellow time traveler who gives Gwyneth mixed signals (he wavers between kissing her and ignoring her), and the secrecy surrounding the Circle, whose distrust of Gwyneth is both unfair and frustrating. And yet, through it all, Gwyneth is adaptable and engaging. As she makes secret trips through time to conspire with her much younger (and living) grandfather or asks a delightful gargoyle ghost to spy for her, Gwyneth uses her intuition and ingenuity to circumvent the Guardians, the controllers of time travel. After all, they're supposed to be looking out for her, but their intentions are murky at best. As Gideon points out to Gwyneth, their lives are dictated by their supernatural genes; they will never be free from the confines of their birth, forced to stay local, so as not to be in constant danger. Hilarious and delightful, this latest entry explores new mysteries and raises new questions-just don't expect any answers yet. A great recommendation for readers looking for adventure, romance, and historical trivia.-Kimberly Garnick Giarratano, Rockaway Township Public Library, NJ

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