The Black Room

by Gillian Cross

Overview

Robert has come back from a horrible ordeal in a strange parallel world. Now he can’t stop thinking about the people he left behind to face a winter that most won’t survive. When Robert sees a chance to save his friend Lorn, he is desperate to succeed. But is he prepared for the realities of her world? Meanwhile, Lorn struggles to lead the little band of survivors, even as she feels herself drawn to a secret tunnel where an unknown menace lurks.

Seamlessly blending fantasy with a hard-hitting survival tale, Gillian Cross has created a completely original psychological thriller.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101154083
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/06/2006
Series:	Dark Ground , #2
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	305 KB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Gillian Cross has written many award-winning books for children in her native UK. The Dark Ground Trilogy: Book One is her first book for Dutton Children’s Books.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8-The Black Room (Dutton, 2006) by Gillian Cross is the second book in a trilogy that began with The Dark Ground (Dutton, 2004). Tom, while walking his dog, sees his best friend Rob and his sister Emma, and decides to follow them because they have been acting strangely for some time. He follows them from a grocery store into the woods and then is discovered by them. Tom confronts Rob and he reveals an unbelievable story about his life over the last few months. As Rob was traveling by plane home from a vacation with his family, he found himself in the woods, unclothed, in a miniature body. A corps of similarly small people, who live underground and are lead by a girl named Lorn, saved him, and later helped him to find and converge with his "zombie-like" real self. After accidentally spotting unique braiding, that only Lorn can do, on the gym bag of a boy at the bus stop, Rob follows the boy and discovers a little girl who looks like Lorn who is being kept in an underground room at the boy's house. Rob convinces Tom and Emma to help him rescue the girl and reunite her with Lorn. Lorn and Tom tell the story in alternating chapters. While the story takes a long time to build momentum, once it does it becomes very compelling. Steven Pacey reads this fantasy/thriller with great exuberance and enthusiasm, giving each character a distinct voice and helping to flesh out their personalities. Purchase where the first book is popular.-Jo-Ann Carhart, East Islip Public Library, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Cross steps up the pace and urgency in this gravely suspenseful second installment. When The Dark Ground (2004) ended, Robert had suddenly become normal-sized again, merging with the lethargic body that had continued his regular life while he was miniscule and surviving in the treacherous woods with other tiny people. His story here is told by his friend Tom, drawn into the cause by Robert and sister Emma. The alternating story is told by Lorn, tiny, back in the forest and struggling to survive the frigid winter in an underground cavern. When Tom stumbles upon a random classmate in possession of a 12-strand braid that only Lorn-or another version of Lorn-could know how to make, they follow a trail to a hidden abused girl who may be Lorn's normal-sized counterpart. Their mission to reunite her with microscopic Lorn is desperate and dangerous. Readers now know what is going on, but still not how or why. A gripping page-turner that begs for the next volume. (Fantasy. YA)

Kirkus Reviews