Risked

July 1, 2013
The time-traveling middle schoolers are back for a trip to rescue Anastasia and Alexis Romanov from their 1918 murderers. Thirteen-year-old Jonah and his sister, 11-year-old Katherine, take an unplanned trip back in time to the house in Russia where the Romanovs were executed. Time-travel criminals Gary and Hodge have escaped from time prison by tricking Daniella and Gavin, the modern-day versions of Anastasia and Alexis. Friend Chip comes along for the ride. Once they arrive in 1918, the kids learn that they have landed at the site of the Romanovs' execution, to be carried out in the early hours of the next day. They also discover, to their horror, that their Elucidator, the device that controls their movement through time, has been modified so that it cannot take them back to the present. Fortunately it can, however, make Jonah, Katherine and Chip invisible, a function the kids immediately use after guards capture them when they arrive. The story continues with the suspense fans have come to expect in this entertaining and discreetly educational series, taking everyone into the cellar where the Romanovs were murdered and acting out several scenarios while playing with time. As always, this story has great potential to spark interest in a historical event while keeping young readers entertained and fascinated. Plenty of fun and great for history teachers as well. (Science fiction. 8-12)

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January 1, 2014
Time-travel trickery lands Jonah, Katherine, and Chip in Russia before the Romanovs' assassination, along with Gavin and Daniella, who are actually the royal children Alexei and Anastasia. Between the complexity and violence of the historical moment and the usual matters of time-travel logic and ethics, this installment takes on too much, but it should be a welcome addition for series fans.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)