Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times by Emma Trevayne, Glenn Thomas (Illustrated by)

Jack is bored.  His mother is too busy being a social butterfly and shutting him away in his room.  His father is always working.  The housekeeper is nice and tries to entertain him but it's still not exciting.  It's not until this strange man shows up at his house to do magic tricks for his mother's friends that he sees a more interesting life.  He even hears the man offer to train him in the same field and gets a bit excited only to hear his mother say no.  But he wants to go...

Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published May 13th.

If you have a young reader interested in steampunk, they'll enjoy this story.  It's full of action, good and bad things, and a big challenge for Jack.  It reads quickly, the story flows well and it's fun to see where the author's imagination has gone.

Jack finds a way to follow the stranger through an odd door between worlds.  Suddenly he's in the same city, but it's not; it's a parallel world.  Jack is very lucky to find friends who can help him.  He's amazed that the first one he found is a metal wind-up girl that has a soul.  She's kind and happy and he immediately likes her.  Add in a doctor and a scientist and you have Jack's new group of friends.

The doctor makes new limbs for people.  They're metal with a bit of magic.  Jack has a mechanical aptitude, so he helps.  He's happy to be here and happy to be useful.  But Lorcan is still looking him and he's willing to do anything to get Jack to come to him.  That includes hanging people...

The lady is a strange ruler that wants a perfect son.  Of course, once they become imperfect or get too old, they have to go.  Right now, Jack is exactly what she wants.

This whole story was an interesting concept.  Jack could now have anything he wanted. He had lots to do and his new mother loved him.  But was it better than home?  Jack has only one chance to get home.  Will he take it?

Happy reading.