The Obsidian Compass

Time Castaways #2

by Liesl Shurtliff

In this second action-packed novel of the Time Castaways trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Liesl Shurtliff keeps readers riveted with each stunning revelation about the characters they’ve come to know and love. Nothing can stay hidden when time reveals all.

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

430 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2019

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 so good! I may even love this 1 even more! The 1st book was so thrilling & full of action, & even though it ended so good..you were still left w/so many questions(which makes it to where you can’t wait even more to read the next book lol genius!). I was thinking of theories & scenarios in my head, & out of about 50 I only got 1 right! So good. This is the 2nd, so can’t say much about the plot, but we have gotten to know, & gotten attached to this amazing family, & some amazing side characters as well. My heart belongs to Chuck in this 1. What an amazing, lovable, interesting character. The family/sibling/friendship dynamics are on point. Those combined w/such an intricate story full of adventure, suspense, danger, action, mystery, & time traveling w/amazing writing make these such incredible reads. We learn a lot of the answers to our questions here, but some of those leave only more questions lol So of course I’ve already started the 3rd book! We learn new things about quite a few characters, there are many twists & turns, even more amazing time travel, & even more adventure & danger-which all make for a fast-paced read. We even have a crazy “far out” VW bus & a Jerry Garcia(Grateful Dead singer)looking guy(that’s how I picture him in my head anyway!). Reading time travel can make your head spin. I can’t imagine what WRITING it would be like! Headache central! You have to get so many details right to where everything connects in the end-past, present, & future. The author did a brilliant job. What I read was TALENT. Highly recommend! Another BEAUTIFUL cover by Alexandria Neonakis too!💜

[Grace T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid adventure--I saw one or two things coming, but that didn't detract from the story, and if I were the target audience age I would probably give this five stars.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had my eye out for The Obsidian Compass ever since reading the first book, The Mona Lisa Key, which left me with about a zillion questions.

Now, time travel makes my head hurt. Even when it's handled simply, back and then to present, it's tricky -- to read and write. But I felt this sequel was even better than the first.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't read the first book, I'm going to leave off where it ended...so spoiler for Book 1.

At the end of the last book, Mateo lost the Obsidian Compass to Captain Vincent and had to leave Jia on the Vermillion. Mateo's certain the Captain's going to maroon her in time. But not having the Compass also means Mateo, Ruby and Cory can't go anywhere in time to rescue Jia, so they're stuck -- as well as sitting ducks, if the Captain tries to kidnap them again in 2019. At least they have his father's map, the one that tracks the Vermillion through time and space.

When they see the Vermillion go to prehistoric times, somewhere in the Arctic circle, Mateo is convinced Jia is marooned there. He retreats to the basement and starts to tinker ... and builds another Compass. (This is where my head starts to hurt, because it's not really another Compass, it's THE Compass, and ...just read.)

Mateo gets peanut butter on the Compass at a family celebration, and he pops through time and when he comes back, he realizes what he's done / built. On another jump to the Vermillion, he meets Annie Oakley, when she was on the ship while his mother was still Captain Belamie Bonnaire, and convinces Annie to help him get the Compass.

Step in Chuck, the wacky rust-orange VW bus owner and sort-of neighbor (he lives in the bus), and somehow when Mateo activates the Compass inside the bus, it takes the whole shabang -- and anyone in it -- along for the ride. (Time travel induced head hurting again -- the bus is ...well, can you figure it out?)

The whole bunch -- including Mateo's mom and dad -- jump a really, really long time backward. like to the Ice Age, to rescue Jia, only to discover...another former crewmember, Tui, who was marooned after Captain Bonnaire left the Vermillion to marry Mateo's dad and have kids.

And here I'm going to stop, because we're at a moment when I would give too much away, and you really should read it and enjoy it! It's a great 420-page ride through a truly twisted plot that skillfully weaves back and forth.

I'm super-duper excited to read the next one!

Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: http://amb.mystrikingly.com/

[Tirzah · Rating 3 out of 5]

More suspenseful time-travel and adventure sweep up Matt, Corey, and Ruby in this second installment. There were a lot of plot twists and turns I did figure out early on Quine and Mateo are one and the same...I don't know, maybe watching Looper and reading other time-travel books helped me predict that one and the ending left readers wanting more. The dialogue among the different characters were often funny (Gaga's analysis on teenage boys made me chuckle.) I was uncomfortable by one character's disapproval of getting married and having kids. It is true that marriage and kids aren't for everyone and no one should force one into that particular lifestyle, but with the third wave feminist culture we live in when homemakers are often viewed with disdain, I did not appreciate reading that type of mindset in a middle grade book.

I recommend to young readers who enjoy adventure, historical fiction, and time travel.

[MissMayor]

This is the second book in the Time Castaways trilogy. There was a lot of repetition of the first book within this second book, almost as if the author was trying to help a reader who may not have read the first. Since there was so much reference or repetition of the first, the storyline in the second book here was alright but felt more like a sequel than a proper second installment of a trilogy. You do meet new characters and more family members, the final third of the book is my favorite and I will absolutely plan on reading the third Time Castaway when the author publishes. I really enjoyed meeting the family members in this book and learning about the family's past before the events of the Children's first time travel experience. We learn about the parents' history and especially the mother's time pirate past.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story continues and adds some new characters from several of the time lines. Mateo actually creates the obsidian compass in real time and meets Quine n the future. The entire family travels to the Ice Age to find one of his mom's former crew members. They also locate Annie in her true time period (that particular coincidence is a little forced). Captain Vincent ends up with the sought after item and the book ends with a brief respite at their grandmother's home. Readers learn wh Chuck really is and that the kids' grandfather was discarded and may still be alive as well.
Brief allusion to more to come with the last sentence.

[Deanna Holdsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mateo wants to go back in time to save his friend Jia When he makes a compass that will time travel in the old VW bus that belongs to Chuck, their neighbor, he is thrilled. It takes awhile for him to find the secret ingredient that will enable the compass he has made to work but he finally figures it out. Soon, Chuck and the entire Hudson family are traveling all over time learning family secrets along the way.
I enjoyed this book! I found the adventure to be full of twists and turns and loads of fun. I think middle grade readers will enjoy this series.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was even better than the first one. Started reading and I couldn't put it down. Even though many of my predictions were right, I still enjoyed reading how it all happened and it was still surprising. Most of the questions have been answered now except how does it end! I think I am out of predictions in fact and the third book will be very interesting. In some ways it reminds me of The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern except its written for children. Liesl Shurtliff is an amazing writer and definitely one of my favorites!

[Beth Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first book, but I will certainly be back for the third installment. The first half of the book really dragged for me - clumpy plot and writing. But the second half was much better, and I liked the unanswered questions. I also think it was a bit too long; things dragged out where they could have been better if they were tighter. But I love the concept, well done time travel, adventure, and a fun family unit.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

420 pgs. This book took forever to read but it was worth it. Lots of new details emerge that started to make sense of so much mystery in the previous book. There is so much time travel action going on, you must buckle your reading seatbelt! It was such a well-written volume of adventure. The only thing that bothered me was a small bit of cursing near the end. Otherwise, I cannot wait to read the next installment. Highly recommended for Grade 5-6.

[claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good.
Things I liked about it: Mateo building the time compass, Annie Oakley, That Chuck was Charlie, The ending
Things I didn’t like: Quine being Mateo, i mean it just didn’t seem right because they’re so different, some of it was REALLY hard to wrap your head around,really not much more I guess I have a lot more pros than cons

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book and I liked how it went from Mateo life to Mrs Hudson to captain Vincent. It was really exciting!! I also like how both books have cliff hangers. It make me want to read the 3rd book soooooo much!!! And when you read the next book it was like they were just 1 (very long) book!

[Almira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again the Hudson kids are on an adventure, although this time their whole family along with their "wacky" neighbor and his old VW bus "Blossom" are caught up in the time travel - to the ends of the earth, over and under water...... Will they find their friend, Jia and save her from the evil Captain Vincent and his crew?

[Kaelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an incredible read! Brimming with creativity and if time travel is something you love, then YES TO THIS BOOK!! I love the loyalty to family and friends even among the chaos and the beautiful foreshadowing as well! *chef kiss
There however was only 2 curse words, but that's it! Happy Reading!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I think this adventure was more intriguing than the first book! The cover is beautiful, the characters are so lovable, the scenery, the adventure, the discoveries, the mysteries,... I really enjoyed the book! Thank you Liesl Shurtliff for the adventure; I can't wait to eventually get my hands on the third book!

[Valerie Biggam · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 11 year old sadly didn’t want to continue the trilogy after reading this one (the second in the series).

He liked:
⏳The Annie character (even though he didn’t really get the Annie Oakley reference)
⏳Chuck the hippie with his VW bus.

He didn’t like:
😴Some parts were boring.
😴 It was too long.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good...better than the first! It can be as deep or entertaining as you are ready for it to be as it explores the intricacies of time travel. I can't wait to read the final book, but love that it doesn't leave me in a cliffhanger for a year until then!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE CHUCK REVEAL
Okay anyway I genuinely could not put this down and I love how more of the mother's history was explored and it's kinda cool that their timelines don't intersect because time is linear for some of them but the ones on the Vermillion have more of a web of time

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading this series to my 10 y.o. and we're both enjoying it so much! We keep looking up historical people to learn more about them, and discussing basic quantum physics, then predicting what might happen next. Very engaging!

[Jonn'e · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this was so much better and more gripping than the first book in this series… when I got into it. More twists and turns, and it feels more complete. Now to see if the author can maintain that for the third one…

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liesl found her stride in this book. I liked it much better than the first.

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Not as good as the first book! Great time travel adventure!

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute, better than the first but not enough to raise the whole series to a four-star rating for me.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed, predictable, but overall a good read. Can’t wait to see what happens next!

[Jack O · Rating 5 out of 5]

~ Jack, age 12

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book, loved the first book and I love this one even more, I can’t wait to read the third book in this series. I highly recommend this book.

[Krys · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Annette Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing page-turner! If you haven't read the first one in the series, "The Mona Lisa Key," read it so you can read this one! I can't wait to read #3!

[Kendra]

This book is WILD

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in 2019 and am writing my review now from notes I took at the time.

Setting: New York, different times from the World Fair (1964/65) to present day, Siberia, the future, and an ocean that is out of time.

Characters: A Family that has the power to travel in time: Belamie (mom) and the first to time travel, Matthew is her husband, Matteo is an adopted on, Corey and Ruby are twins aged 11 and Jia, Captain Vincent is an enemy who can also travel through time.

Plot: This book is the second of a series. Captain Vincent is after Matteo. Jia is missing and they try to alter the past to find and save her. It is all about the mystery of Matteo and his part of a secret weapon that can make a person eternal.

My opinion: Again this book is the second in a series and I did not read the first. This story did not spend much time with character development. However Belamie was well described in the first chapter, her transition from a begging orphan to the captain of a time traveling boat to being mother. She is described as over protective cowardly, worried and secretive, then hardly ever mentioned. So the other characters may have had similar descriptions from the first book. Many events from the first book were referred to, explained and talked about. I loved the historical references! There is plenty of action to keep a young reader interest. I did see some of the twists at the end coming and was rolling my eyes while reading because the characters were clueless, however this book was written for a younger audience and they might not catch the clues. Not Harry Potter but not bad.