The Artifact Hunters

May 15, 2020
Potent, otherworldly, evil magic seeks domination, feeding on terror and upheaval in a time of war, while a Jewish refugee must find a way to counter it with some good magic of his own. In 1942, Isaac's parents send him from Nazi-occupied Prague to Rookskill Castle in Scotland, where he meets magical children and some strange creatures who are using their skills to help Britain win the war, first met in The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle (2016). On his journey he finds hints that his long-held feeling of being different is true. Amazingly, before arriving at Rookskill, he meets his parents in another century and is given two artifacts, an eternity knot and a time-travel watch, never to be relinquished, that will inform and guide him in the quest for reaching his as-yet-unknown destiny. He and the magically talented friends he meets at Rookskill also face unimaginable dangers as the evils close in on their castle, before all is resolved. Well, maybe not everything. The fantasy worldbuilding is generally well constructed and consistent. Gaelic largely inspires the evil creatures' names, and Fox informs readers, though not Isaac, of their motivations in occasional interstitial chapters. Episodes are detailed and fast-paced, each one moving the tale forward, and there are lots of unexpected twists, turns, and revelations. Isaac and his magical teammates--all evidently white--are steadfast, brave, earnest, and altogether engaging. Inventive and exciting, with strong hints of more to follow. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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May 15, 2020
Grades 5-7 On a dark night in 1942, Isaac Wolf is sent away from his home in Prague, ostensibly to escape the Nazis that will hunt his family down for being Jewish. The true danger is a hunter of another kind, a dangerous Unseelie fae that seeks out magic in all its forms. Upon arriving at Scotland's Rookskill Castle, Isaac is taken to the Special Alternative Intelligence Unit for training and brought under the wings of other children with magical gifts. As he learns new skills and unravels the clues his parents left for him, he also winds through different eras as a time traveler. In between Isaac's chapters, readers follow the fae hunter and its keeper, the dark fae Moloch, as they hunt Isaac from the shadows. A companion novel to The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle (2016), this is a joyful middle-grade adventure set against the backdrop of WWII. Isaac and the other charmed children are curious types, and it's easy to root for them against the scary creatures of the night.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2020

Gr 5 Up-Evil forces are closing in on 12-year-old Isaac Wolf. Isaac overhears his parents arguing that he must "escape" and be "trained." Escaping makes sense; the Nazis have invaded his native Prague and many of his friends have disappeared. But what does he need to be trained for? It is too dangerous for his parents to teach him their secrets, so instead they grant him two gifts: an ancient watch and an eternity-symbol pendant. With these, he must discover the secrets of time-traveling and being an artifact guardian. Puzzling out the secrets of his destiny won't be easy with a dark fae named Moloch stalking him. Moloch wants the magical pendant for his own evil designs. Isaac's parents send him to Rookskill Castle in Scotland, the one place that can shelter him against the wicked fairy. Once a school, now Rookskill is a training ground of the MI6 Special Alternative Intelligence Unit, where magical children use their gifts to help the Allies win the war. There Isaac meets Kat, who has a magical object of her own, a cursed chatelaine that was the subject of the companion novel The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle. With the help of his newfound friends, Isaac must learn to harness his magical powers and become a guardian before Moloch can break through the castle's protective wards. VERDICT This fast-paced fantasy will appeal to fans of Carlos Hernandez's "Sal and Gabi" series. A strongly recommended purchase where adventurous fantasy is popular.-Jocelyn Charpentier, Acton-Boxborough Regional School Dist., MA

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