Enchanted: Time and The Mountain

by Jerilyn McIntyre, Ken Shuey (Illustrator)

This fantasy for middle grade readers weaves together three stories of time travel, magical realism and environmental consciousness. In 1910, Elliott Hansinger, a brilliant but eccentric engineer, builds a machine that accidentally transports his wife and his children, Ben and Lizzy, into another dimension of fluctuating times and realities. In the summer of 2021, Annie and Will Hartley are precocious youngsters who inadvertently enter a time portal that sends them 100 years into the past. There they encounter Elliott and his family and discover that they are all trapped in a mysterious world of animals and nature ruled by the wolf-beast, the crafty creature who uses magic to manipulate the flow and direction of time and protect the sacred space of the mountain.

110 pages, Paperback

Published December 9, 2022

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siblings Will and Anna are looking forward to their family vacation at a secluded cabin in the woods, especially as they both enjoy spending time in nature. A large house atop a nearby hill commands their attention as soon as they arrive, and the siblings decide to put their detective skills to the test and investigate the mysterious abode. But when they arrive at the house and it begins to shake unexpectedly, Will and Anna find themselves launched into a world filled with people and creatures beyond their wildest imaginings. Together, they must use their innate kindness and problem solving skills to find a way to balance their existence with both their human and their animal companions. This intriguing middle grade story reads smoothly and incorporates good writing and a thought-provoking plot. Ample white space and occasional illustrations offer newer middle grade readers a visual respite from the text, while the narrative itself is compellingly complex and draws readers in. Though there are not always answers to every question posed in the story, there is sufficient information for readers to use to predict and explain outcomes for themselves. Time travel, anthropomorphic animals, and an approachable family dynamic are all found within this story, and young readers will find themselves puzzling out the novel's message long after its conclusion. This is a unique and interesting standalone novel to share with confident middle grade readers.

I received a copy of this book from the author and I chose to leave this review.

[Jill Rey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten, almost eleven-year-old Annie and her thirteen-year-old brother Will are stuck with their family for summer vacation. Staying in a cabin on a mountain overlooking the woods, Annie and Will are free to roam. During their wondering they spot a cabin further up the mountain and set their sights on visiting it.

“Enchanted: Time and The Mountain” rotates between 2021 and 1910, bringing with it a brilliant cast of characters, woodland creatures, and mystery delights. Annie and Will offer readers the fun of imaginative, young minds. As they wonder the woods and become sucked into the energy field within it, their panic, inquisitiveness, thought processes, and intrigue are evident to the reader. The supporting characters they meet along the way only further add to the mystery and excitement as we attempt to unravel the mountain’s happenings.

Author Jerilyn McIntyre has created an imaginative world within these pages. Making it extraordinarily easy to find oneself falling into the emotions of Annie and Will as they try to make their way back home. Gracing us with illustrations that keep us rapped to the page, Ken Shuey lends his brilliant pen stroke to making McIntyre’s world come to life. From the deer to the cabin, the nosey townsfolk, and the mountain landscape, everything about “Enchanted: Time and The Mountain” grabs readers and wraps them in its own sort of energy field.