cover image Between Two Ends

Between Two Ends

David Ward. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-8109-9714-1

In a story that's entertaining, despite occasionally painful subject matter, 12-year-old Yeats Trafford has never understood why his father, a university professor, suffers from a lifelong, crippling depression, which has strained his parents' marriage. Upon visiting his grandmother's mysterious old house for the first time, however, he discovers that, in childhood, his father and a friend named Shari had been magically transported into a copy of The Arabian Nights, aided by a pair of animated pirate bookends. There, Shari, who had recently lost her parents, took on the role of Shaharazad and refused to return, leaving his father guilt-stricken. Now Yeats, again aided by the pirates%E2%80%94he "was certain, bookends or no, they were capable of handling themselves in a fight"%E2%80%94must enter that magical world and convince Shari both of who she really is and of the importance of returning to the outside world. Somewhat reminiscent of Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Ward's (the Grassland Trilogy) tale should be appreciated by preteens for whom Disney's Aladdin has already served as a gateway to The Arabian Nights. Ages 8%E2%80%9312. (May)