Independent reading level: 10-11
awards: None mentioned

Despite a bit of a slow start, this adventure with a boy of Korean decent helping a legendary Korean archer king back to his time has a lot of charm and interest. Math problems and seriously cool archery throughout, some Korean history, some excellent meditation and focus instruction. Feels the tiniest bit dated, but generally fun! ( )

I thought this book was terrific -- a time-travel adventure steeped in magic and ancient Korean history. Chu-mong, a king who founded Koguryo (later Korea) in 37 BC crashes into 12 year-old Kevin's room as he's doing homework. Kevin must find a way to send him back or he will become trapped in the modern world, possibly altering the course of history. I loved the cultural and historical lessons skillfully woven into the narrative along with magic and math, and the way this unlikely teacher taught Kevin so much about respect, perseverance, honor, and honesty as they race to restore him to his own time and place. I'm nearly through all of the Battle of the Books selections -- this is a terrific one, and an excellent book to recommend to boys.

Curriculum: this would be a good book to support a unit on mythology, folklore, and creation stories. Also a good book to support the balance of historical and contemporary fiction.

Park, L. (2008). Archer's quest. New York: Yearling.

When an ancient Korean archer appears in Kevin's bedroom one February afternoon, neither of them are sure what happened. The only thing Kevin knows is that he's got to get Archer back in his own time before they change the course of history forever.

Obviously the set-up is meant to tell a story that educates as well as entertains. The book is mostly successful in incorporating facts organically and there is enough arrow-wielding action to entertain most kids. The audio recording was fine, though not particularly spectacular. ( )