  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 11/01/2010 After young Orion disappears, his sister, Meg, finds herself unable to sleep. Restless with insomnia, she creeps out of her house one night, leaps across the roofs of London, and comes upon a séance, where she discovers not only an urchin she believes could be her brother, but also a sleepless and wandering Charles Dickens. Dickens, a customer in her father’s print shop and a family friend, is seeking inspiration for his next book, and he finds it as he joins Meg’s search for her missing sibling. Buzbee, author of the award-winning Steinbeck’s Ghost (2008), has humanized another literary giant, revealing not only Dickens’ humor and foibles but also the seedy, cruel underside of nineteenth-century London, including its exploitation of children. While exploring basic human rights issues, Buzbee also offers a rollicking good historical mystery, written in Dickens’ style and illustrated with appealing line drawings, which include a subtle tip of the hat to a more contemporary London that a few readers may catch. - Copyright 2010 Booklist. School Library Journal - 11/01/2010 Gr 6–8—Nineteenth-century London was a dangerous place for children; some were stolen from their families and forced to work in dreadful factories. Young Meg Pickel is not one of these unfortunates; she has a safe home and a loving family, but her teenage brother disappeared six months earlier, and their widowed father appears to have given up hope of finding him. The Pickels are not without resources; their dear friend is the world-famous novelist Charles Dickens, and he joins forces with Meg to solve the mystery of Orion's disappearance. Their search allows readers to tour the city, with its horse-drawn carriages, pubs, heavy fog, pickpockets, and press gangs. Many scenes and characters take inspiration from Dickens's novels. But having the author in the mix is a bit of a deus ex machina; his fame and fortune help the characters through many a tight spot. The tale begins with a fake seance and a real ghost, but Buzbee never revisits or explains these supernatural elements. Instead, he gets the search moving quickly, and the fast pace may help some readers past the flowery, pseudo-Dickensian writing style. Ruth's delightful black-and-white drawings add atmosphere and interest. If historical mystery fans are not quite up for Philip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke (Knopf, 1987) or Eleanor Updale's Montmorency (Scholastic, 2004), this book could be a good way to work up to them.—Geri Diorio, The Ridgefield Library, CT - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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