Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 09/01/2014 Gr 4–6—Fin is so forgettable, no one can remember him for more than a few minutes. Left by his mother at an orphanage in the pirate city of Khaznot Quay at the age of four, he's been on his own ever since. Fin uses his curse to his benefit by becoming a master thief. When he receives a letter directing him to steal a key in exchange for treasures and a promise to show him the way home, he accidentally releases the Oracle, an insane wizard who had been carefully guarded for centuries. Meanwhile in another world, adventurous Marrill, stuck in suburban Arizona, finds an enormous ship in a parking lot. Soon she's traveling the pirate stream, a waterway connecting all worlds, joined by a wizard on a quest for the Map to Everywhere, which they will need to get Marrill home. Fin and Marrill's paths intersect and they set about stealing and reassembling the map—each piece located in a different world. The task becomes further complicated when they realize the Oracle is also after the map. Alternating between Fin and Marilll's points of view, a slower beginning allows for compelling character development in the first quarter the book. When the plots merge, the pacing picks up, mirroring the urgency of the characters, though readers may wish for more time to digest and appreciate the various worlds before racing on to the next. Husband and wife team Ryan and Davis have created wholly original settings, and the juxtaposition of Fin and Marrill's backgrounds and personalities is enjoyable and humorous. This is an ambitious undertaking, and strong readers who enjoy adventure fiction and fantasy will inhale the first book in what has the potential to be an extraordinary series.—Juliet Morefield, Multnomah County Library, OR - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 10/01/2014 *Starred Review* Marrill is used to adventure; she and her parents travel the world so much that she has never lived in one place for more than six months. But after a sailing ship emerges in the wavering heat mirage of an Arizona parking lot, and Marrill finds herself stuck aboard, she is in for her biggest adventure yet. Desperate to find a way back to her family, she recruits the help of the wizard Ardent and his crew, as well as a young boy, Fin, whom everyone except Marrill forgets as soon as he is out of their view. While sailing on the Pirate Stream, a body of water that connects the known universe, the adventurers race to find pieces of a cleverly imagined map to everywhere, before an evil wizard can get them first. Ryan and Davis’ swashbuckling quest features fantastic world building, gnarly creatures, and a villain who is both spooky and formidable. Each new location is a treasure, and even the ships themselves are full of character. Ardent’s ship, for instance, is manned by a giant made of rope (he handles all the rigging, naturally). The unique details, expert plotting, charming characters, and comic interludes combine in a tantalizing read that’s made even more appealing by the promise that the story will continue in future volumes. - Copyright 2014 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 02/01/2015 Marrill from Arizona wants to save her sick mother, while Fin from an orphanage on a grim pirate world wants to find his missing mother; both kids stumble onto a ship traveling the Pirate Stream, a magical water source that connects all worlds. Luckily, they land with a capable crew and embark on a quest to find a fabled map that will, perhaps, give them all they seek. Of course, a powerful map in a parallel time/space stream can be devastating in the wrong hands, and Marrill and Fin quickly learn that Serth, a terrifying and obsessed wizard, is also seeking the map pieces in order to fulfill an apocalyptic prophecy. The pace takes a bit to get rolling, but once it does, there’s no catching one’s breath as the kids (and the crew with whom they’ve fallen in) risk life and limb to gather pieces and try to stay one step ahead of, or sometimes catch up to, Serth. Neither Marrill or Fin have much experience in making friends, and their tentative but determined efforts at understanding how to compromise, risk, and share with a peer is one of the quiet highlights of the novel. Fans of The Phantom Tollbooth will appreciate the traveling aspect: each area the crew encounters is effectively described as quirky, dangerous, and distinctive. Readers will undoubtedly be eager for the next volume to see what happens next for both the tortured, haunting Serth and those who are trying to stop him. AS - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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