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4.5 stars for The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone: Part 1 - Laurentide #middlegrade #fantasy



Title: The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone: Part 1 - Laurentide (A time-travel mystery)

Author: D.M. Sears

Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy Historical Adventure


Book Blurb:


Teachers who vanish, an abandoned train station, and an antique shop full of secrets. A page turning time-travel adventure for children aged 10-15. Now enjoyed by thousands of readers!


At Laurentide Academy, teachers are disappearing one by one. Vanishing without a trace. Worse, adults are forgetting that the teachers ever existed. In town, Corn Flakes and Hershey bars are missing from stores and no one but children remember them. 12-year-old Molly and her friends suspect that these “forgettings” are related, and that they have something to do with the newly-arrived Headmistress and her creepy helpers.


The quest to solve the mystery of the disappearances leads Molly to a secret that her school has hidden for years. Along the way she learns that nothing in her life has been quite what it seems. Who is the Guardian Team? Why are mysterious notes popping up at the old station? How does the old lady at the antique store know so much about what is going on? And most important, who is coming on the 8 o’clock train?


A modern children’s classic.


Readers have compared The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone to A Wrinkle in Time, The Hobbit, and to the Nancy Drew mystery adventure stories. One bookstore owner and his 10-year-old daughter describe it as “Harry Potter for girls, only better.” Its page-turning plot, with its many twists and turns, makes it a favorite with both boys and girls.


D.M. Sears describes The Untimely Journey as a time travel mystery adventure with modern twists - the kind of story that I loved to read as a child, but brought right up to date.


My Review:


This is a book about Molly.

This is a book about trains.

This is a book about happenings

This is a book about things strange.


This is a book of disappearances.

This is a book about a seriously evil headmistress.

This is a book about Molly's experiences.

This is a book to throw at that headmistress.


Will they figure out the truth?

Why are some sanguine?

Why are some so aloof?

Time to catch the train for an untimely journey.


My Rating: 4.5 stars


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Author Biography:


D. M. Sears lives and writes in Virginia. He is a pilot who has traveled the world, flown on six continents, and written several books about airplanes under the name Michael Bleriot. The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone was born when his niece requested an adventure story for a 12-year-old girl, one that included trains, horses, and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. She said it should also include the history of America, “but only the interesting parts.” The brains behind the adventure that is The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone belong to the many children who contributed ideas to the book. Molly and Veronica travel almost 130 years into the past and make stops along the way, exploring locations and historical events that are fascinating to readers in the Middle-Grade genre and older. Confronted by enemies bent on destroying the real past in order to replace it with their own twisted events, Molly and Veronica and their crew aboard the Jeremy Bentham use their wits and energy to save the day. The Untimely Journey of Veronica T. Boone is a fascinating, smartly-written, and educational adventure that readers love. And yes, a sequel is on the way!


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Reviewed by: Mr. N

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