FernFolio » inventions

Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton

fernfolio — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:52:26 +0000

Blake Winters is not happy to find himself in Oxford, dragged there by his mother who is doing research in the ancient libraries its university colleges. He misses his father, who has remained in Canada, and worries that his parents’ separation will lead to divorce. Accompanied by his younger sister, Duck, Blake spends hours in the library at St. Jerome’s College, under the sometimes watchful eye of its librarian, while his mother works on her research.
One day, as he idly runs his fingers along the spines of the books, a book reaches out and swats at Blake. Take aback, the boy picks up the book from the floor where it falls, and notes it is a small and ordinary-looking on the outside, that it bears the name, or title, Endymion Spring, and that its pages appear to be blank. Then, as he flips through the book, he comes across a single page of writing, a riddle, one that his rather annoying little sister does not seem to be able to see.
Blake is immediately drawn to the book, which nestles into his hand and has revealed a secret riddle to him and him alone, and contemplates, briefly, slipping the book into his backpack and taking it with him. When he later meets a kindly old former professor of his mother’s, Blake asks the question that has been burning in his mind since his strange experience in the library, “What is Endymion Spring?” His words so shock and trouble the old man, that Blake begins to realize that the nondescript little book is potentially very dangerous and that, if it fell into the wrong hands, could cause unimaginable disaster. But, when he returns in secret to the library to find and take the book, the Blake discovers that the library has been ransacked. Could someone else be looking for Endymion Spring?
Slowly, the story of Endymion Spring, a small brown leather-bound book and the name of a young apprentice to Johann Gutenberg, inventor of the first printing press, is revealed. In 1452, the young Endymion is living happily in the household of his master Johann Gutenberg, when Johann Fust, a mysterious and rather sinister old friend of Gutenberg’s, arrives to stay bearing a wooden chest carved with dragons and sealed with metal clasps which Fust claims will poison anyone who attempts to break them. Awakened one night by the sound of talking, Endymion spies upon Fust and his servant Peter, and stumbles upon Fust’s terrible secret, one that so frightens him that he realizes he will have to sacrifice all that he has and is to steals the contents of the wooden chest and hide them where Fust and his minions will never find them.
Matthew Skelton’s Endymion Spring is a wonderful adventure about a book that chooses an ordinary young boy as its champion in the battle between good and evil. It intertwines the Oxford of the present day with the medieval towns of Mainz and Oxford, and captures wonderfully both the ancient city of colleges and spires, and the sights and sounds and tastes and smells of 15th century Europe. This book is sure to appeal to fans of Harry Potter and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials!
Fern Folio Editor

The Strictest School in the World by Howard Whitehouse

fernfolio — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:53:36 +0000

Thirteen year-old Emmaline Cayley calls herself an aviatrix. She dreams of flying and is determined to build a flying machine! Since the year is 1894 and airplanes have not yet been invented, this is an extraordinary and, some might say, even foolhardy ambition.
Fortunately for Emmaline, she has recently come from India, where her parents live, to stay with her eccentric Aunt Lucy, who delights in madcap schemes, and Aunt Lucy’s Sikh butler, Lal Singh, who seems capable of handling any emergency, even ones involving winged flying apparatuses. When Emmaline meets Robert, also known as Rubberbones because of his extraordinary ability to survive falls off roofs and out of trees without a bruise or broken bone, she realizes that she has found her pilot and so, with the help of her new friends, Emmaline begins to build flying machines!
Just as Emmaline’s flying experiments start to take off, she receives a letter from St. Grimelda’s School for Young Ladies informing her that she is to report for the beginning of the new school term. It seems that her mother, concerned that Emmaline’s behaviour is less than ladylike, has enrolled her in the strictest school in the world.
St Grimelda’s proves to be a dismal, frightening prison of a school. The students are locked behind high stone walls to prevent escape, their letters home are opened and read, and they are encouraged to spy upon their classmates and inform the headmistress, Mrs. Wackett, of any misdeeds. Emmaline is desperate to escape from the school and return to Aunt Lucy’s, but her attempt to sneak past Mrs. Wackett and Mr. Pinchbeak, the gatekeeper, fails spectacularly.
Aunt Lucy begins to suspect that all is not well with her niece when she receives a very stilted letter from Emmaline that says nothing. She and Lal Singh and Rubberbones decide to investigate things at St Grimelda’s, and, when the headmistress refuses to let them see Emmaline, begin to make plans to help her escape.
But St Grimelda’s has a secret, one the school uses to keep its students terrified and obedient. If Emmaline and her friends are going to be successful in freeing her, they will have to confront this ancient and deadly mystery!
Howard Whitehouse’s book is a wonderful adventure about courage, friendship and persistence! Readers from Grade 5 who enjoy fantasy will love this book!
FernFolio Editor

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

fernfolio — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:13:42 +0000

Hugo Cabret lives in a secret apartment hidden deep within one of the great train stations of 1930s Paris. His clock maker father dead in a terrible fire and his drunken brute of an uncle vanished, Hugo travels the secret passageways and tunnels of the train station, keeping its twenty-seven clocks running and on time, and hoping that no one will notice his uncle’s disappearance before he can repair the wonderful clockworks man his father was working on at the time of his death.
The clockworks man, or automaton, is seated at a table, pen in hand and poised to write. Hugo is convinced that, if he can repair the automaton, it will reveal to him a final message from his father.
Without money for food and other necessities, Hugo is forced to steal from the many cafés and shops in the train station. Needing parts to fix the automaton, he also steals small wind-up toys from a toy booth opposite the main station clock, until, one day, Monsieur Georges, the old man who runs the booth, catches Hugo and forces him to empty his pockets. To Hugo’s horror, the old man takes from him the notebook in which his father detailed how the automaton might be repaired. Though Hugo begs him to return it, Monsieur Georges refuses and says that he plans to burn the notebook.
So begins Hugo’s desperate bid to reclaim the notebook. Enlisting the help of old Georges’ goddaughter, Isabelle, and her friend, Etienne, he risks everything to finish the repairs to the automaton and learn, finally, the mystery of the clockwork writer’s message.
A deliciously dark mixture of text and black and white images, including original drawings and period photos from the earliest days of French film, The Invention of Hugo Cabret is both a mystery and a celebration of the magic of cinematography.
FernFolio Editor