(2) 4-6 When Princess Marabel's twin brother Marco, the kingdom's Chosen One, is kidnapped, she travels past the kingdom's Wall to find Marco (held captive by their exiled aunt) and claim a role for herself outside his shadow. Barrett's fantasy kingdom is in many ways a whimsical, tongue-in-cheek version of the modern world, adding a fresh layer to this story of palace intrigue and adventures in an enchanted land.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(3) YA Reimagining the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, Barrett gives new life to Ariadne as a lonely priestess with a disfigured and disabled brother: a wholly human Minotaur. Using a rich historical framework, the story alters events and characters enough to build fiction from mythology. Complex characters and relationships guide the plot to the preordained but still satisfying conclusion.

Reviewer: Bethany Templeton Klem

(3) YA Barrett casts her reimagining of Homer's Odyssey in the voice of Telemachos--here a soft, spoiled boy--who reluctantly heads off to seek his long-absent father, Odysseus. The quick-paced tale highlights strength, bravery, generosity, and compassion. Barrett uses the contrast between Homer's heroic characters and the "real" versions Telemachos encounters to underscore that both art and family memory are vulnerable to false romanticism.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker

(4) 4-6 Sherlock Files series. In their third outing, Xena and Xander, the great-great-great-grandchildren of Sherlock Holmes, tackle another one of their ancestor's unsolved cases. This time they're in hot pursuit of a missing Egyptian amulet. A Da Vinci Code-esque search leads them to London landmarks including Cleopatra's Needle and Big Ben. The mystery itself isn't particularly suspenseful, but the scavenger hunt around London is mildly diverting.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 4-6 Sherlock Files series. Is the Sasquatch-like creature from Sherlock Holmes's unsolved case notes roaming around the English countryside again, a century later? The famous detective's great-great-great-grandchildren, Xena and Xander, are determined to find out (even if Xander is afraid of wild animals). Multiple suspects and red herrings keep mystery fans engrossed, though the anticlimactic solution proposed for Sherlock's original case may disappoint readers.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 4-6 Sherlock Files series. Set in modern-day London, this book follows American transplants Xena and Xander Holmes, great-great-great-grandchildren of Sherlock. The kids hunt for a missing painting that Sherlock himself couldn't find and meet Andrew Watson (related, of course, to that Watson). Springer's Enola Holmes stories and Peacock's Boy Sherlock novels are stronger, but this new series will attract fans of lighter mysteries.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 4-6 Hector isn't looking forward to a summer in Italy at the archaeological site where his mother works. But things turn dramatic when he finds a stone that allows him to travel back to Etruscan time. While Hector and an Etruscan boy he meets are underdeveloped characters and the plot is rather contrived, Barrett's story brings attention to this pre-Roman civilization. Glos.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker

(3) 4-6 World in Ancient Times series. These well-written books offer detailed accounts of the rise and fall of ancient Roman and Greek civilization; also provided are short biographies of relevant individuals and their accomplishments. The cleanly designed books, which feature lots of white space, maps, and photos, are impressively well-rounded considering how much information the authors needed to winnow. Reading list, timeline, websites. Ind. Review covers these World in Ancient Times titles: The Ancient Roman World and The Ancient Greek World.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(2) 4-6 Ariadne unhappily moves to a small college town in Tennessee in seventh grade. She meets a sympathetic, but elusive, friend--one May Butler, who turns out to be a ghost from the late 1800s. Several familiar themes converge in this story of a vulnerable girl with contacts in another world and a ghost who wishes to return to where she belongs. The novel offers the diversion demanded by rainy days, long weekends, and summertime.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2003

(2) YA Destined to be the empress of the Byzantine Empire, Anna Comnena finds her future profoundly altered in a power struggle over the succession. Exiled after a failed attempt at fratricide, she finds a way to continue The Alexiad, the eleven-volume epic story of her father's life. A coming-of-age story set in an exotic time and place, the book is a fascinating mix of history, mystery, and intrigue.

Reviewer: Mary M. Burns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 1999

(4) 4-6 Celebrate the States series. A boon for report writers, these ten volumes dutifully provide information on each state's geography, wildlife, history, government and economy, population, landmarks, tourist attractions, and notable residents. A somewhat dull design incorporates readable texts, colorful tour-book-like photos, maps, charts, and historic reproductions. State facts, state songs, annual celebrations, and "fun facts" are appended. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Shelley Woods