Gideon the Cutpurse

GIDEON THE CUTPURSE by Linda Buckley-Archer
Category: Paranormal
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 6/27/06
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
Rating: 5 Stars

Peter feels he has been brushed off by his father yet again--and he has been. He's been waiting for his birthday treat for
months, but his father always has business meetings and is too busy to spend time with him. His mother is off working in Los
Angeles, far away from Peter and his father in London. The morning Peter and his father fight about it again, Margrit, the Au
Pair, takes Peter with her to visit her friends out in the country.

These friends have a daughter, Kate, who is about Peter's age, twelve. Kate's father takes the two of them, plus Kate's dog,
Molly, to the lab where he works. Kate and Peter end up chasing Molly through the halls--a small thing that ends up being
very important.

One minute, they're running through the halls of the lab. The next minute, Kate and Peter, along with an antigravity machine
that one of Kate's father's colleagues has been working on, have been transported back in time to a grassy hillside in 1763.

Before long, they've met two very different men of that time. The first is the Tar Man, who steals the antigravity machine,
which could very well be the key to getting back to the present. The second is Gideon, an enemy of the Tar Man, who
decides to help the two children from the future.

Before long, Kate and Peter are on an adventure, headed to London to recover the antigravity machine and get back to their
homes and families. On their way, they will encounter highwaymen, make friends (including Gideon), and learn a lot about
that time in history--the good and the bad.

Back in present-day England, Peter's parents are frantic with worry. Kate's father has figured out that the machine has
something to do with their disappearance--but when ghostly images of the children appear dressed in clothing from the
eighteenth-century, it becomes clear that this can't be shared with the public; who knows what destruction could result from
the misuse of time travel technology?

The parallel storylines--the children's quest to get back to the present and Kate's father's struggle to bring them back--go
together quite nicely. The jumping back and forth is not as confusing as it could have been, and both parts of the story are
extremely well-written. The characters are realistic, the storylines interesting, the history fascinating, and, well, every aspect
of this book brilliant! The cover is very unique and will draw readers right in. The story inside will not disappoint them, either!
GIDEON THE CUTPURSE is the first in a trilogy, and I can't wait for the next two books!