Galley Talk

Sarah Todd, Children's Book World, Haverford, Pa.

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 6/19/2006

One of the most satisfying aspects of reading a galley proof is knowing that the public at large lacks access to the book you hold in your hands. Matthew Skelton's debut novel, Endymion Spring (Delacorte, Aug.), does that concept one better: what if a book appeared blank to everyone else but you? Blake Winters finds himself in Oxford, England, with his scholarly mother and wunderkind sister. Bored and homesick for America, he wanders the labyrinthine Bodleian Library and discovers an unusual book. At first glance, it's blank, but as he begins to flip the pages, words start to appear that only he can see. Thus the mystery of Endymion Spring begins to unfold, which entwines the destiny of Blake and his sister with that of Gutenberg's assistant in Mainz, Germany, in 1452. In our increasingly digitized age, it's fitting that Skelton asks us to consider the power of the first printed words, and he deftly weaves a tale of modern discovery and historical intrigue worthy of the paper it's printed on.