The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens {Review}

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Publish Date: April 5, 2011

Source: Library

Goodreads

Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage.
Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power,an evil they know nothing about.
Until now.
Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey to dangerous and secret corners of the world...a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem. And -- if an ancient prophesy is correct -- what they can change history, and it is up to them to set things right.do 

Just another book proving how awesome middle grade is.

It doesn’t take very long for the story to throw you right into the thick of things and from there, there’s barely ever a moment of down time which is precisely how I like it. The only thing that threw me off was the time travel. I wasn’t really expecting it from the synopsis and I kind of felt like I was waiting around for the story to start up. That’s my fault, though, since they were my expectations. Now you know there’s time travel, so you won’t have that problem :P

I really enjoyed all the characters, though I occasionally wanted to tell Emma to stop being such a child. Since she’s only ten, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to act like a child, though. The siblings were all so different and unique. I loved that none of them felt dispensable and were all integral to the story. The side characters were great too. They were all really well developed and made the story complete.

I really enjoyed all the intricacies to the story. I was kept guessing until the answer was right in front of my face, but there was still plenty of unanswered questions to leave room for the sequel.

The Nutshell: The Emerald Atlas is a fast-paced, action-packed story full of risky situations and plucky young siblings. If you’re up for a crazy journey that’ll have you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing, you should definitely get your hands on this one.

Pages: 417

Series: The Books of Begining #1

Rating: 4 stars