Cora TaylorBesprekingen

Lots of research on historical background went into this story of a young Greek-Canadian gymnast who has a very unexpected adventure during her family trip to Crete. The author even included a two-page bibliography to get people started on further reading.

An unusual time-travel for older kids, Taylor's book slips between the present and the Minoan past. It's quite informative about the ancient civilization, but my overall sense was that Taylor was trying too hard to liven up the rather esoteric material for a younger age group.

This young adult suspense keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

A two-year-old is snatched from a campground. The story of the impact on her family is told by her older sister. Clarice believes that no matter what she does, the tragedy of her little sister’s disappearance will forever keep her mother distant and broken. After 12 years, nothing has improved. Her father is gone and her mother barely notices her. Torn between her jealousy and need for attention and her own sense of loss, Clarice decides to change the focus of her life from negative behavior to helping search for missing children, including Melissa.

Without giving any details, the story touches on the sexual abuse of children and the predatory nature of pedophiles. It is especially chilling to read from the kidnapper’s viewpoint.

This book is both a riveting suspense book and a fascinating character study. Recommended for ages 14 and up.

On the Wings of a Dragon by Cora Taylor. An intriguing beginning and an interesting premise. However, the scenes in the cell go on far too long and taking over the castle is deficient. There are several important things that are not explained and the reader is left with too many whys? It felt as though the author tired of the story half-way through and rushed the rest. This book should have been twice as long.

Great for kids. Adventure. History. Review on blog.

Jeremy Thorpe returns in this second installment of Cora Taylor's Ghost Voyages series, finding himself on board explorer John Cabot’s ship the Matthew in 1497. While observing the European "discovery" of Canada, Jeremy realizes that there is another time-traveler like himself on board. Who could it be?

This was an entertaining, but very slight, sequel - enough to convince me to continue with the series, although I did feel that it could have been a little longer. Like the first title, it was illustrated with Canadian stamps.

Young Jeremy Thorpe finds himself transported back in time to the deck of the river boat Northcote when he examines an old stamp with his grandfather’s magical magnifying glass. Here he finds himself a ghost from the future, able to observe and even effect events, but unseen by the crew and soldiers caught up in the Riel Rebellion of 1885 Saskatchewan. He travels next to the sailing ship Nonsuch on its voyage across the Atlantic in 1668, where he gains an appreciation of the realities and hardships of sailing in the seventeenth-century, and a new-found interest in history that stands him in good stead when he must complete a school project in his own time...

The first in a series about Jeremy's time-traveling adventures, Ghost Voyages was a simple but entertaining adventure-fantasy, with a slightly different take on the time-slip motif. I did think Taylor offered too glib and passing a look at the controversial Riel Rebellion, but then, I might not have wanted or needed more detail if I had grown up studying Canadian history. All in all, well worth reading, especially for middle-grade boys with an interest in history.

Julie has always been able to see things others cannot. As a small child she learns to keep these visions to herself. One day Julie sees something even she finds strange: ships sailing over her father's fields. Will she be able to figure out what this sign means before it's too late?

One of those rare books you read as a child and do'n't want to give up as an adult.

A very interesting book with a good plot. Meg is very sick, and she gets a strange doll that transports her into the past.