Sign of the Raven

Twelve-year-old Tom is determined to make the best of a visit to his grandmother's townhouse in a seedy area of London. From his childhood visits there, he remembers a "gap" in her basement, and when Tom leaps over, he finds himself in Bartholomew Fair—an early 18th-century "freak" show featuring human "monsters." They are the target of a doctor who will stop at nothing to "anatomize" such creatures in the interests of science. Astra, a "Changeling Child," commandeers Tom to help foil the doctor's schemes. His ability to move between time periods may be just what she and her friends need. Hearn (The Minister's Daughter ) vividly portrays the main characters—Tom, his mother and Astra. The compassion Tom feels and the fears he harbors for both of the other characters drive the plot, and Tom's ingenuity and humor lead to many entertaining episodes. The author drops hints that Tom's mother, like Astra, has been a victim, of sexual abuse. The lucid prose allows readers to almost smell the dankness of Tom's grandmother's basement and to feel the "cobwebby nub" of a doorhandle or the "blistered surface of the basement door," leading down to the "gap," and the dated speech of the "freaks" is easily comprehensible through the lively dialogue. An absorbing book with a valuable lesson. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)