Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx

October 1, 2011

Gr 5-9-In this sequel to Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (HarperCollins, 2009), Jake's wild adventures take readers on a journey through space and time, where Nefertiti and her father, Pharaoh Neferhotep, are waging war against the Skull King and his minions, who are hunting Jake and his sister, Kady. The siblings don't know if their parents are alive or dead. When a new exhibit on Egypt opens at the American Museum of Natural History, they discover that it is sponsored by Bledsworth Sundries and Industries, the company thought to be behind their parents' disappearance. They take a close look at the mummified body that they heard was half-man, half-bird and discover that it is a grakyl-a deadly creature from another world that gives a warning to Jake and Kady: the Skull King will find and kill them and everyone they love. Suddenly they are back in Pangaea with their friends from the previous book, facing danger and adventure at every turn. And they must defeat the Skull King or the bridge between one time and another could be closed forever. A wild ride with some quick-thinking teens fighting for survival.-Kathryn Kennedy, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2011

An adventure series mashup built on Indiana Jones-like tropes picks up steam with this second volume.

Three months have passed since eighth-grader Jake Ransom and his older sister Kady returned from the ancient land of Calypsos on Pangaea, where they saved the inhabitants--Neanderthals and lost Roman legionaries and ancient Maya--from the evil magister Kalverum Rex. Neither teen knows any more about the location of their archaeologist parents, missing three years now, but both are sure that their parents are lost somewhere in time. After an attack on their home, the siblings visit an Egyptian exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History only to be attacked again by the blood magic of Kalverum as he seeks the Key to Time. They are thrown into the desert kingdom of Deshret, cut off from the rest of Pangaea by a flesh-tearing windstorm. The bracelets given them by the elders of Calypsos also draw in their friends from their last adventure, and the five find themselves once again battling the Skull King and his minions while trying to find traces of their parents. Rollins' second Jake Ransom adventure is tighter, more magical and more thrilling than the series opener.

Likely to win Jake more fans, this will have adventure seekers of both genders clamoring for volume three (likely to deal with Norse lore, given the dropped hints). (Adventure. 9-12)

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

July 1, 2011
While visiting a museum's Egyptian exhibit, Jake and Kady are drawn into another adventure in the mystical world of Pangaea. Joined by old companions and a new one--Princess Nefertiti--the gang continues to explore the mysteries of time and combat the evil schemes of the Skull King. Chases and fight scenes elbow out character development in this good-humored, frenetically paced action-adventure.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)