The World Between Blinks

Starred review from November 1, 2020

Gr 3-7-During her lifetime, Nana was always one for adventures, which she chronicled through tales told over iced tea at the family beach house. While the beach house holds so many fond memories, it is too much for the family to maintain, and they come together one last time to pack up Nana's things. Primos (cousins) Jake and Marisol both feel the impending loss of the connection to their Nana deeply; so when they discover a hidden map, Jake and Marisol are inspired to take a Nana-style adventure. Maybe they will find the treasure she always talked about and be able to save the beach house! While X does mark the spot, it is not a treasure (in the traditional sense) that Jake and Marisol discover. The cousins find themselves swept into the World Between Blinks, a magical parallel world where that which is lost-things, places, people-appear; but they were not lost, so why are they here and how do they get back? Jake and Marisol have thoughts on how they ended up being taken by the Unknown to the World Between Blinks, but the truth may be the biggest surprise of all. Getting home will take all their strength, ingenuity, moxie, and each other. VERDICT A fast-paced fantasy adventure that will appeal to genre fans and reluctant middle grade readers alike; purchase where lighthearted fantasies and series, such as Chris Colfer's Land of Stories and James Riley's Story Thieves, are popular.-Jessica Caron, Bancroft Sch., MA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2020
An adventure to a world where lost things--and people--live on. Cousins Jake and Marisol grew up listening to their late Nana's exciting tales of adventures whenever the family got together at her house in South Carolina. This summer marks the time to say goodbye, as the house needs to be sold, but Marisol is not ready to move on yet. Finding one of Nana's old maps is just the excuse for one last adventure. The duo accidentally slips into the World Between Blinks, a place where anything lost in our world--from historical figures like Amelia Earhart to lost cities, extinct animals, and everyday mislaid objects--ends up. Jake and Marisol must find their way back before they start forgetting their own memories and become lost there forever. Chapters alternate between Jake's and Marisol's points of view in a novel that beautifully delves into each cousin's inner turmoil: Marisol struggles with the grief of losing not only Nana, but the house where so many memories were built while Jake feels he has sadly grown used to constantly saying goodbye due to having a traveling diplomat mother. The authors deftly weave those elements into an enduring tale of love, loss, and memory. Jake is White and American; Marisol lives in La Paz with her Bolivian father and her mother, who is Jake's mother's identical twin. An inventive, heartwarming first book in a new middle-grade series. (glossary of historical figures and places) (Fantasy. 9-14)

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November 1, 2020
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Cousins Marisol and Jake adore their adventurous, well-traveled, story-spinning grandmother, as well as her beach house packed with old photographs, maps, and endless souvenirs. It's the only place their far-flung family ever gathers, but now, after Nana's passing, the adults decide to sell it. Marisol is desperate to keep the house in the family, so when the two cousins stumble across a treasure map, they follow its lead, hoping for riches. It's no straightforward hunt, however; they soon find themselves transported to the World Between Blinks, a magical realm that attracts and claims all the world's lost things, from Amelia Earhart and sunken cities to bygone technology and socks that vanish in the dryer. The cousins must race to extract themselves from this extraordinary world before they get stuck there forever. Graudin (Wolf by Wolf, 2015) and Kaufman's (Aurora Rising, 2019) incredibly inventive story, chock-full of delightful descriptions and fascinating tidbits, is a charming crash course in a host of historical mysteries and figures. Readers will have enormous fun following the cousins as they navigate their strange situation and piece together their place in it, all while learning lessons on the power of love, the value of memories, and the wonders that the world holds.

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November 30, 2020
Two heroes head on a quest in this series starter with a strong focus on family and shared memories. After 12-year-old Marisol Beruna’s adventure-loving Nana dies, she travels from her home in La Paz to Nana’s South Carolina beach house, where the family is gathering to prepare the home for sale. Marisol hopes to use her uncanny ability—locating missing objects—to somehow afford the house’s upkeep and keep it in the family. When she and her favorite cousin, Jake, also 12, find a treasure map that their Nana drew, they follow it down the beach, only to wind up trapped in an adjacent realm filled with lost entities from their own world—cities such as Atlantis, historical figures such as Amelia Earhart, and treasures such as the fabled Amber Room. In their effort to return home, they must recover a magical book before they’re stuck there forever. Kaufman (the Aurora Cycle series) and Graudin (Invictus) take full advantage of the book’s inventive premise, introducing readers to a host of exciting historical oddities and concepts, including the Library of Alex-andria, the Tasmanian Tiger, and Queen Nefertiti, all of which are detailed further in supplementary notes. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary.