Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact

December 12, 2011
Adult author Hartley (Will Power) makes his children's book debut with a dark fantasy adventure, first in a planned series, for readers seeking magical chills. After his parents die, 11-year-old Darwen moves from a small English town to live with his busy aunt in Atlanta. Enrolled in a pompous private school (where he is bullied and ridiculed for his accent and his ignorance of American customs), the miserable Darwen is given a mirror that turns out to be a gateway to the strange world of Silbrica. Captivated by Silbrica's beauty, Darwen seeks refuge there until he's chased out by scrobblers, menacing humanoid beasts that are determined to capture him for nefarious purposes. Worse, the scrobblers are connected to Darwen's world and the school itself; it's up to Darwen and his few friends to prevent major disaster on both sides of the mirror. The excitement builds tentatively as Hartley lays extensive groundwork for his complex fantasy world. Silbrica itself feels thinly drawn and claustrophobic, but solid writing and a genuinely intriguing protagonist set the stage for the next chapter. Ages 9â12. Agent: Dystel & Goderich.

August 15, 2011

As if new living arrangements, new school and new country weren't enough to contend with, how about facing whole new worlds?

Eleven-year-old Lancashire lad Darwen Arkwright knows his Aunt Honoria is trying to make living in Atlanta, Ga., bearable. But tea that's more lukewarm water with a floating tea bag (ugh) that looks like a mouse, a distracted "babysitter," Honoria's busy lifestyle and her reliance on upscale takeout are not helping him settle in. Just before the start of school, Darwen follows a strange flying creature through the mall (after watching it messily devour a sparrow) and ends up at Octavius Peregrine's Reflectory Emporium, which sells mirrors priceless and perilous. The odd proprietor gifts Darwen with a mirror that becomes first a window and then a door on the sylvan world of Silbrica. Darwen is a Mirroculist and can see through darkling mirrors into other worlds. Meanwhile, at the overly regimented private school Honoria enrolled him in, Darwen makes a couple friends...and as many enemies. Thefts at school, strange bones in the schoolyard and terrifying troubles in Silbrica all seem connected by more than just Darwen. Can he puzzle things out and survive? Hartley's first dark fantasy for young audiences is, out of the gate, an imaginative page turner that manages to be by turns spooky, suspenseful and touching.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 1, 2011

Gr 4-7-Darwen Arkwright has moved from England to Atlanta, GA, to live with his career-driven aunt after his parents die in a car crash. He is a typical 11-year-old boy, nervous about starting at a new school and struggling to deal with all the other big changes in his life. He soon discovers that he has a unique gift-he is a "mirrocculist," one who can see through mirrors, and he can travel through them to the world that he sees. He makes friends with Alexandra, who is smart-mouthed but also smart, and Rich, whose mother recently died from cancer and whose frightening appearance masks a boy with unique interests. Although Darwen is initially reluctant to tell his new friends about the world on the other side of the mirror, soon they are drawn into the battle to keep evil from coming through it and destroying all they hold dear. An exciting read from beginning to end, the book has a lot of heart. It will leave readers wanting more; indeed, it would seem that a sequel is a foregone and happy conclusion.-Kathy Kirchoefer, Prince Georges County Memorial Library System, New Carrollton, MD

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.