The Mona Lisa Key

Time Castaways #1

by Liesl Shurtliff

From Liesl Shurtliff, the  New York Times  bestselling author of  The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin,  comes a thrilling new middle grade trilogy about three city kids who get on the wrong subway train and wind up on a wild, magical mystery-adventure throughout time. Imaginative, daring, and packed with fun, Time Castaways is perfect for fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and Percy Jackson . Mateo, Ruby, and Corey Hudson’s parents don’t have too many rules. It’s the usual Be good. Do your homework. And never ride the subway without an adult, EVER. But when the siblings wake up late for school, they have no choice but to break a rule. The Hudson siblings board the subway in Manhattan and end up on a frigate ship in Paris…in the year 1911. As time does tell, the Hudson family has a lot of secrets. The past, present, and future are intertwined—and a time-traveling ship called the  Vermillion  is at the center. Racing to untangle the truth, the kids find themselves in the middle of one of the greatest art heists of all time. And the adventure is just getting started.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Time Travel, Adventure, Childrens, Fiction, Mystery

394 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2018

About the author

Liesl Shurtliff is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of books for young readers. Her books include RUMP, JACK, RED, and GRUMP, all part of the (Fairly) True Tales series from Knopf/Random House, and the TIME CASTAWAYS trilogy from Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

Liesl was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the mountains for her playground. Before she became a writer, Liesl graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in music, dance, and theater. She now lives in Chicago with her husband and four children. Visit her online at www.lieslshurtliff.com and @lieslshurtliff everywhere.

Reviews

[Belles Middle Grade Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my 100th read of the year! So happy w/all the great books I’ve managed to read. This was such a fun time travel adventure. Mateo, Ruby, & Corey’s parents have a rule to NEVER ride the subway. But when they oversleep for school 1 morning w/no sign of their parents-they decide they have to. They board a subway in Manhattan, & they end up on a frigate ship in Paris-in 1911. It turns out their family has a lot of secrets. The past, present, & future are intertwined—& a time-traveling ship called the Vermillion is at the center. Racing to find the truth, they find themselves in the middle of 1 of the greatest art heists of all time. This had action, adventure, strong sibling bond, time traveling pirates, a strange rat, a ship that can change form, secrets, mystery, humor, & cliffhanger chapter endings-that combined w/the fast paced action made for a very fast read! Lol I loved the kids so much..except for Albert on the ship-despised him! The whole backstory, the story of the compass the ship & the captain(that we know so far) was all so interesting. As were the rest of the crew. Reading the story unfold so brilliantly, & the twists! Loved this! I highly recommend! I do have to say something about the part where they ride elephants-this is not against the author. She like many others probably have no idea-I didn’t until researching for a paper I wrote in college about why I hate any circus w/animals, & came upon this subject. For an elephant to let you ride it-it means they were “broken” as baby elephants-it’s an actual term. Look that up & the word bullhook(something the circus also did). It’s not pretty. By not riding elephants, & letting others know not to, there is a chance the people doing this to elephants will get the message that people don't support this practice. I’ll leave more info on the subject below. Again, I LOVED this book, & I highly recommend. W/the strong beliefs I have for protecting animals, I had to give info to spread awareness. Anyway, loving the 2nd book currently too! Absolutely beautiful cover by Alexandria Neonakis too! 💜



Phajaan, or elephant crushing, is a long-standing accepted tradition in Thai culture. This harmful training method is what elephants undergo to become part of the tourism industry. Young elephants are taken from their mothers and confined to a small place, then abused with bullhooks and bamboo sticks spiked with nails. They are also starved and deprived of sleep, in order to crush their spirits and become submissive to humans.

Elephants' spines cannot support the weight of people and doing so all day can lead to permanent spinal injuries. There are further complications from having a chair (howdah) attached to their backs. This clunky contraption rubs on their backs, causing blisters that can become infected. In addition, wear and tear on the elephant’s feet after long-term trekking can cause foot infections and injuries.


1. When they’re babies, elephants are taken from their mothers and families in the wild. Because they have a high sale value, not only are babies illegally captured, their protective mothers are also often killed as they try to save them.
2. “Training” begins immediately. The babies are tied down and beaten with bullhooks and other instruments designed to inflict pain until their spirits are broken and they’re willing to obey their “trainers” to avoid pain.
3. Researchers have found that elephants who are subjected to this “breaking” or “crush” process often develop post-traumatic stress disorder.
4. Elephants in nature live in matriarchal herds in which they forage for fresh vegetation, play, bathe in rivers, and travel many miles a day. Held in captivity, they can move only in small circles in an arena or along a short path while carrying humans on their backs, even on the hottest days.
6. Captive elephants are routinely denied nutritious food, adequate water, and needed veterinary care, especially for their feet.
7. The lack of exercise and long hours spent standing on hard surfaces are major contributors to serious foot problems, arthritis, and back injuries. Most captive elephants die decades short of their normal lifespan.
8. According to World Animal Protection, “Between 2010 and 2016 in Thailand alone, 17 fatalities and 21 serious injuries to people by captive elephants were reported in the media. Unreported incidences involving local elephant keepers are likely to make this figure much higher.”
9. Because public awareness of cruelty to captive elephants has increased, many attractions are trying to dupe tourists by adding words such as “sanctuary,” “rescue center,” “refuge,” and “retirement facility” to their names. But the abusive training methods and deprivation are often the same and make the elephants follow the trainers’ commands to let people ride, feed, touch, or bathe them.
-from PETAs website

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a number of moving parts in this book -- literally. The time travelling ship can morph into most any other type of transportation from a yacht to a train to a golf cart. Behind all the travelling is a magic compass. I got a bit of a Back In Time vibe from this book. This series will be appealing to both boys and girls and teaches a bit about history in the midst of all the action. I look forward to learning more answers to the mystery of the Mona Lisa Key.

Thank you, Katherine Tegen Books and Edelweiss, for a digital ARC of this series debut.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the end I really enjoyed this book, but it took me a long time to get into it. My ten year ago says it’s a five star book, and he enjoyed it the whole time.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun time traveling adventure!!! The Hudson children’s parents work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their frazzled start to the school day leads them to a subway car adventure they never imagined! Once they discover they have entered a time traveling ship, they don’t want to leave. They meet Captain Vincent and the ship’s crew and take part in stealing the Mona Lisa in Paris in 1911 (they think to save it from a future heist). As their journey in time continues, they realize it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. This story made me laugh out loud and I enjoyed visualizing all the places in time the kids traveled to.

[michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

* Thank you to Eidelweiss and Harper Collins for an advanced DRC of this book. All opinions are my own.

While a big fan of Liesl Shurtliff, this particular book didn't grab me the way I had hoped it would. The concept of three kids traveling through time seemed fascinating, but I kept waiting for something to actually happen. I was also waiting for their parents to become a part of the story, especially as I figured out their role quite early on in the book, and it seemed like that was where the drama would actually come in. The last third of this book was probably the best part where the action really turned up.

[Elevetha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable MG featuring time travel, betrayal, a creepy highly intelligent rat, and siblings(!).

The plot twist was heavily predictable and the plot regarding anything actually having to do with the Key or Mona Lisa or what it unlocks was very slight. We spent a lot more time (lol) meandering through time or chilling on the magical transforming ship. That being said, I liked it, the sibling dynamic especially, enough to be back for book 2.

[Grace T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun middle-grade book! Time travel, pirates, betrayal, new friendships and old siblingships. You think it's tying up nicely, and then--it does, but you need the second book anyway because one very important question is yet to be answered.

[Ash Mustard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanna be a time pirate now! Lol

[Krys · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Liesl Shurtliff's books. She always writes fun, sweet, all out wonderful books, so I was excited to read this new series from her! The Mona Lisa Key is a nonstop, time traveling, thrill ride of an adventure. I absolutely loved it. The characters are fantastic and the siblings are great together. Corey made me smile lots of times and Ruby is a doll. Mateo (Matt) is the anchor of the group. He is super smart and a bit of a mystery himself. I really enjoyed their time traveling adventures, but I was very suspicious of their company. They travel to Paris, India, and the famous Game Six (which I personally thought was so fun, I love baseball), to name a few. There are many secrets and twists and turns I don't want to spoil, but it has me eagerly waiting for the next book!

5 out of 5 stars. There are so many enjoyable twists and the author does a great job of planting hints throughout to keep the reader guessing! I didn't want to stop reading at times. I had to find out what happened next.

[Nicole Wagner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disclaimer: did not finish.

I received an advance reader copy of this book, and I'm aware that it's an uncorrected proof. But the continuity problems were bad enough to make this already bland book plainly unreadable.

Example: trio of kids gets on subway on their way to school. It's April, it's New York, they're rushing, it's 8-ish a.m. The mysterious train is a time machine. They get off the train and it's Paris, 1911. The sky is blue, without a cloud in it. They enter a museum. AND SUDDENLY MOONLIGHT IS STREAMING IN THROUGH THE WINDOWS. IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

I could let this glaring editorial miss go if the book had enough for me to chew on. But it didn't. I love young adult novels, and I appreciate time travel and adventure novels, but this one didn't offer me enough, soon enough, and after about 80 pages I put it down for good.

[The Grimm Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so cute! I have never come across or loved a fictional mom more than I loved the one in this book.
This is one of the ridiculous cute middle-grade novels that just make you feel warm and fuzzy to read. And the plot is SO good. You get taken on a magical adventure that is unique and cute, and something completely its own.
The main characters are super lovable, but I have say, (for the first time) the parents were actually my favorite characters. Shurtliff just raised the bar on fictional parenthood. This should be the new standard. Usually fictional parents are nice, loving, and caring (if they don't need to be a jerk for the plot) but pretty boring and unimportant. Basically, you couldn't care less about them. But that is not the way with this book, and everything gets SO much better at the end when plots and secrets are revealed. I have to say that that is my favorite part about the book. Then the flying, magical ship. I so want to rent it for my birthday.
I love this book, and I am so excited for the next ones in the series. I think anyone would find it super cute and amazing, so get it off your To-Read shelf and onto your Read shelf! Enjoy.

[Sheery · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic, wonderful and imaginative book that my kids and I read together! Siblings, Mateo, Corey and Ruby go on an unexpected time-traveling adventure with a time pirate and his interesting entourage. The siblings learn a lot about one another while they go to different times and places through history. They are helping Captain Vincent of the ship Vermillion to uncover the mystery of the Mona Lisa Key.

My kids and I loved every moment of this book. We look forward to reading the second book in the trilogy - Time Castaways: The Obsidian Compass - which comes out in October.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mona Lisa Key is a novel by Liesl Shurtliff. It is about Mateo, Ruby, and Corey Hudson, who one day find that their parents aren’t there to wake them up. After rushing to get ready for school, they decide to take the Subway and find themselves onboard a ship of time pirates. The pirates take them on an incredible adventure, going to all sorts of interesting places, in a variety of incredible time periods.

My first thoughts about the book were that it seemed like a pretty interesting description, and something that I wanted to read. So I borrowed it from my local library’s BorrowBox catalogue and gave it a go. But… Upon reading the book, I felt like there were a lot of bland elements to it. My main annoyance with the book is that a lot of it is just vague. The kids have so many questions that they need answers to, yet none are answered in the way that gives an actual explanation. They’re often just given vague answers, in an attempt to make it seem mysterious. Or sometimes they just don’t ask at all. To be blunt, I think the book ought to have done a better job of explaining all of the circumstances.

I think the characters are… Okay… But I didn’t much care for any of them. In my opinion, the author doesn’t give much explanation about any of them. There are a bunch of characters on the Vermillion, but very few of them get their backstory explained, or any kind of character development to them. Even with the main trio of siblings, there’s not much character development; they’re pretty much the same by the end of the book as they had been at the start.

Mmmm… Honestly, a lot of characters seem really unimportant. And characters who are important to the running of the ship are often really bland and not developed as much as they could be. Such as Jia. She seems like an okay character, but the author gives us very little about who this character is as a person, and doesn’t develop her much. There’s a variety of mentions of her improving and repairing the ship. But, in that respect, she’s somewhat of a background character; she does important tasks, so she can’t really be gotten rid of from the book, but so much of her input to the time travels are just anecdotal. Or for a character such as Pike; I feel like she’s a character that the story could have completely done without. Very little use to the story.

For me, it feels like the author skims over a lot of the time travels. In chapter 14, the author mentions about a whole bunch of time periods that they visit but doesn’t show us much of any of them. We generally get brief mentions of them stopping train or bank robberies, stuff like that. But no in-depth details as to what happens, or how they did any of it. It feels like the group did go on exciting adventures, yes. But, as a reader, a lot of these adventures feel bland because all I read about them is a stray sentence about it and no real details.

On a similar note, the book feels somewhat incomplete. For me, there’s just way too many things that are left unexplained and/ or incomplete. There are so many aspects that feel very underdeveloped. Such as early mentions of Matt’s seizures, which the author made out to be somewhat important in the beginning, but got very left out of the rest of the book. The book feels as if it got left on a huge cliffhanger, so it feels very unfinished. Even with huge aspects like the siblings’ parents. We get a very basic explanation of stuff about them, but nowhere near enough to answer the mysteries of the book. Even by the end of it, with the revelations about the parents… It just feels like it opened up way more mysteries and unanswered questions than it solved. There’s way too much that the author failed to explain by the end of the book.

Overall… I think it was mediocre… As a time travel book, it felt kind of… I don’t know… Bland. I mentioned earlier that the author somewhat skips over a lot of the time travel aspects. There’s a huge lot of mentions of what the crew have done, travelling through many generations of time. Yet it feels uninteresting in those areas because the author only gives vague mentions, such as preventing robberies. I know it’s meant to seem interesting, but all we gets is a few stray sentences, with no actual details. And there’s little character development to any of the characters, as well as a lack of deepening the story about each character and who they are. At points like these, I ask myself whether I would continue reading more of the series… Mmmmmmm… Maybe? It was a mediocre book, but there are aspects I didn’t like about it. Just to find out answers of the mysteries, I might continue the series… But probably not. I don’t recommend the book.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hudson kids wake up late for school because their parents strangely aren't there. They left a note saying something about an emergency at the museum they work at. The kids set out for school, but when a stranger gives them an unexpected $20 they decide to take the shortcut and ride a train even though their parents are always dead set against public transportation. They always thought it was because Mom got sick in any kind of vehicle, but when the train they get on goes to a strange stop and the next train proves to be a time traveling pirate ship, they might rethink the reasons for their parents' rules. Their first trip through time takes the kids to 1911 Paris and the crew is rescuing the Mona Lisa from being stolen. Captain Vincent tells the kids that rescuing art and treasure that would otherwise disappear forever and then restoring it later is their mission. The kids go along for the ride and enjoy seeing different times and places, but then they start to have questions. What is really going on with the time pirates? Are they there by chance, or do they have a connection to them somehow? And is Captain Vincent as honorable as he seems?

I have loved all of Liesl Shurtliff's fairy tale rewrites, so I was eager to see what she would do with time travel. This is a very different type of story. It is complex (because what time travel book isn't?) and on top of that there's a complicated plot in here too with a series of puzzles that are leading to something, a mysterious compass that controls the time ship but isn't working quite right, and the question of why the Hudson kids are the ones the ship picked up. The crew is a mix of complicated people from across time and countries. Some are young, some are older, some you immediately like, and others you immediately want to toss off the ship. There's a bit of a slow build to the action part of the story as the characters get quite a bit of development, especially the Hudson kids, and mainly the eldest Matteo. And then the world of the ship and time pirates crew, and how they time travel gets a good amount of development too. It took me a while to get into the story because of the slower pace. That wasn't bad, it was just different from what I'm used to in Shurtliff's books. I think my favorite part of the book was the ship, The Vermillion which kind of has a mind of its own and can change into other modes of transportation to match the time period. I can't comment too much on the plot and such because 1) there's still lots of questions to be answered and 2) it's really hard to talk about anything without spoilers. I can always use more time travel books for middle grades because they really don't come out that often, so this will have a readership with fans of that genre. We'll see how much this world sucks them in. I personally don't feel a pressing need to read the next book, though if I have time I might. Recommended for those who like complex time travel stories and mysterious pirates.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. There are a couple fight scenes or perilous scenes in which people are injured (mostly cuts, bumps, and such that aren't fun but aren't deadly).

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving this 2 stars only because it's written by Liesl Shurtliff who wrote the best fairytale series out there. I'm a big fan of hers, so this book is a major disappointment. She had me in the beginning. I love the idea of three kids with an overprotective mom who ironically collects old swords. She doesn't let them ride the subway, but kids will be kids. Late to school, they take the wrong subway train and end up on a time-traveling carrier than changes into trains, ships, cars, and any other type of transport that fits the need at the time. The first mission is to the Lourve in Paris in the early 1900s to intercept the theft of the Mona Lisa.

I'm not going into details of the plot. I'll just mention some of the problematic parts that made the story one long boring test of my patience. For 2/3 of the book the plot meanders from location to location with no understanding of where it's leading. There are massive amounts of description that aren't necessary. Shurtliff's attempts to throw the reader off track fail miserably. Aside from the three kids, the other characters are poorly developed. In my opinion if a character can be taken out of a story without changing it at all, then that character isn't developed well. I felt this way about most of the character's on the transport machine (not even sure what to call it). Shurtliff probably had a great story in her head, but it didn't transfer well to paper.

Time travel books are really hard to pull off. It's confusing. If you're not a pro, my advice is to stay away.

[Melati Lum · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often a middle-grade book keeps me reading past my bedtime, but this one did! I finished it in three bedtime reads and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story centres around three siblings, Mateo, Ruby and Corey Hudson who somehow find themselves on a time-travelling ship, captained by a mysterious pirate who may be a goodie or a baddie, they're not quite sure. Within no time at all, the captain has the children stealing famous artefacts in order to protect them from the real baddies, so that the artefacts can later be returned to their rightful places unharmed. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems, and the Hudson children have to navigate their way through different places and timezones to find the truth and a way back to their parents. The story continues at a fast pace, with plenty of mystery and adventure to excite the reader. I enjoyed the multicultural aspect of the book, with an ethnically diverse crew described in an effortless way, being more representative of today's society than similar books of the past. The main characters were all extremely relatable, the parents were funny, the story was exciting and fun. This story is everything that a reader looks for in a middle-grade adventure. I'm looking forward to passing this book on to my nephews. I think they'll love it!

[VIBookCrate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hudson siblings have very few rules. They are not allowed to talk to strangers and they are definitely not allowed to take public transportation without an adult. One morning after their parents mysteriously take off in the early hours – the children decide to break those rules and take the subway to school by themselves – which turns out to be the time traveling ship the “Vermillion” that is captained by a mysterious time pirate named Captain Vincent and his crew of time misfits.

The children set off on an adventure through time under the impression that they are saving precious items from destruction. They begin to discover that there are many secrets that the captain is holding close and as they start to dig for the truth they begin to get in serious danger.

This is a fantastic first of a series from author Liesl Shurtliff. It is action packed and full of intrigue. I think that all middle grade readers will enjoy it – including teens and adults. I personally cannot wait to see what happens next!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Pretty light-hearted, but still had some action/fighting scenes. There were a couple fun twists, but not entirely unexpected ones. I guessed the main one pretty early on, but I did miss another.
I didn't really get in to the characters. Partially because they didn't really always handle situations in the way I would think was best, and partially because they weren't particularly deep. Of course, this is meant to be a kids book, so I probably shouldn't expect to be left with deep things to think about.
I'm not a huge fan of time travel, but this was a fun book. Not sure if I'll read the second one, though.

Sort-of-spoiler:
One thing I didn't really like was how easily the characters caught on to the stuff they were being taught. Mainly, Ruby and Corey's proficiency with weapons within days of beginning learning. I think it's just too easy, like they didn't have to work for it.

[Denalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. and Mrs. Hudson are history geeks who are also great parents raising three adventurous children. A bit overprotective, the kids jump at the chance at adventure when they suddenly find themselves on a time-traveling vehicle with Captain Vincent. Their adventure takes them all over the world and all over time. But the biggest adventure is finding a way to escape what they now realize is their kidnapping and returning home to fight for their family to stay together.

This book is written for the very young end of the YA group, more specifically for middle-graders. The pace was pretty slow until the last couple of chapters; that's when it became a page-turner. Even for the young readers, action has got to be a little more engaging and a little more intense to hold attention.

All in all, this was an average read.

CONTENT WARNING:
This is pretty mild and I can't think of anything that would be offensive or concerning for parents, other than discussing truths about adoption.

[Teresa Osgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of a time-traveling pirate with a small, handheld controlling device reminded me, immediately, of the old Voyagers show. Ah, happy memories. This story is actually completely different, which is fine. The device controls a shape-shifting ship, which is actually pretty cool. Matt and his siblings interact in believable sibling ways. The time pirate charmingly convinces Matt of his good intentions of stealing things from real thieves, with intent to return them later. However, his missions seem more or less aimless. Even the kids notice the lack of direction in the middle of the book. It certainly gets more exciting at the end, but the whole story is full of clues that the conclusion will not happen in this book. It's an okay story, but Captain Vincent is no Phineas Bogg.

[Mrs. Melaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Matt Hudson and his slightly younger twin siblings Ruby and Corey board a Metro train in their home town of New York City, they learn why their parents have always strict forbidden them from taking public transit. The children wind up on the Vermillion, a time-travelling ship, headed by pirate Captain Vincent and a crew of orphans from different eras, each with his or her own special talent. The Hudsons willingly join the adventurous band pulling off heists at strategic times in history. However, when the siblings eventually want to return home, their situation turns dangerous. Eventually reunited with their parents, surprising family secrets are revealed. Many loose ends are left dangling, and a sequel is clearly in the works.

[Almira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so you are running late to get to school, you know perfectly well, as do your 2 siblings that your parents have totally forbidden you to ever ride the subway without an adult! But you're running late, and you need to get there really soon! So since there are 3 of you, and you're all together, surely, NOTHING, I am really NOTHING can happen to you, you all will get to school and your parents will never know anything about it! Right? Well, that is pretty much what the Hudson kids (Mateo, Ruby and Corey) had hoped when they boarded the 6 train in Manhattan, but something goes really WRONG really fast and they end up on a Frigate ship in Paris in the year 1911!!!! Oh boy, are they in trouble with their parents, but that's not the worst of it!

[R Waterfall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the interesting time-travel adventures that Matt, Ruby and Corey had. The exciting plot and creative characters held me on until the end (I did spent a couple nights reading late haha). I was not expecting the ending! I honestly didn't think that the Hudson's parents would be so involved in the whole plot. Plus, Captain Vincent seemed so nice and generous, but then he actually turned out to be tricking them! He was a bit harsh in discarding them on that island, but Matt, Ruby and Corey definitely grew and learned from those experiences. I love Jia and Pike, especially at the end! They were so resourceful and helpful. :)
Anyways, I do want to read the rest of the trilogy and see what happens!

[Lisa Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mateo, Ruby, and Corey Hudson live in New York city with parents that work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their parents are very loving, but they have some very strange rules - like not to get into any vehicles, even the subway. But one day when the kids are desperate to get to school on time, breaking that rule changes everything. Soon they find themselves on the Vermillion, a magical time traveling ship with a bunch of "time pirates." It may just have been the biggest mistake they have ever made.

A fun story, and I read it on the recommendation of one of my students. There were times when it dragged a bit, but he also told me that the second book is better, so I may have to give it a try.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was curious about the concept of time traveling by the title (Time Castaways) but the writing done by Liesl Shurtliff really hooked me and kept me reading page after page after page.

I love books that take things from real like (take game 6 of the 1986 World Series) and plays with it just enough to make the new reality seem not only possible, but probable.

Now that the secrets of the Vermillion has started to come out, what other secrets are still there to be discovered?

I'm looking forward to picking up the second book in the series real soon so I can continue to read about Mateo, Corey, and Ruby as well as the rest of the characters.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

My niece has been telling me to read Rump by Liesl Shurtliff and I plan to get there...eventually. However, when I discovered Shurtliff had a time travel trilogy it was obvious that was where I was going to start.
This was quite fun and left off on a great cliffhanger. I've already put the next books on hold at the library and am eager to see if any of my unanswered suspicions come true. A few of them already came to fruition but it didn't spoil any of the excitement for me. Looking forward to sharing these with my nieces AND looking forward to sharing their appreciation for Shurtliff's fairy tales!

[Tirzah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rating

This was a fun, action-packed read with a mix of time travel and clue hunting. At times, it reminded me of the Castle Glower series, 39 Clues, and The Dead Gentleman. There is a theme of strong family bonds and sticking with family, no matter what. Readers also learn facts from different historical periods. Two things I personally did not care for was the brief, conversation about dinosaurs living hundred millons of years ago (erroneous theory) and the modern, distorted way the term "feminist" was described albeit it was in a lighthearted way. However, I would still recommend to middle grade readers and up, especially those who enjoy adventure stories.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book in her new series. This time her characters are time traveling pirates who steal treasures throughout the ages.
The three main characters are children in the same family - one is adopted and hints are given that this will be significant in this trilogy. They are kidnapped by their mom's former partner and head out on adventures.
Several chapters are devoted to character development and plot background. It's a long read for a middle grader but chapters are short enough to keep them going.
Looking forward to the rest of the series.

[Shawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. It had a fresh take on adventures and time travel. Unfortunately I found that there were portions of this book that felt like they drug out for no apparent reason. My best guess is to not give too much away as it was designed to be a series/trilogy to begin with. Between these slow parts, and my busy life this book was put to the side for a good six months or so before I picked it up to finish it. This is never a good sign. I did enjoy the second half of the book much better as it picked up the pace and added in a few good twists for the next book.