A Quest in Time

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Young Lisa does not know what to make of her uncle’s last gift to
her—an old travel chest full of junk. She finds her answer as soon as
she lifts a large wooden ball out of the trunk. The room begins to spin
and Lisa is suddenly crouching in a storm-tossed boat captained by Leif
Eriksson, the Viking. As soon as Lisa figures out that the wooden ball
is actually the eye of the boat’s dragon figurehead, she is whisked
back to the safety of her bedroom.

The trunk contains nine more fragments of history, each with the power
to transport Lisa back in time. A leather cap has her dodging bandits in
a medieval forest. A piece of blue porcelain results in Lisa sipping
Mongol tea with Marco Polo. Each artifact also comes with a note from
her uncle and a single alphabet letter. Lisa perceives that her uncle
wants her to solve a puzzle and that the only way she can collect all
the clues is to be brave enough to take all 10 journeys through time.

Over the past decade, Frieda Wishinsky has written both fiction and
nonfiction books for children. In this work, she manages to combine both
genres to produce an superb time-travel adventure. More than two dozen
action-packed illustrations by fellow history lover Bill Slavin add
extra humor to Wishinsky’s fine prose. Highly recommended.