03/06/2017
In a time-bending series opener that mixes adventure, goofiness, and whimsy, Loux (SideScrollers) introduces Delia Bean, a science-minded loner whose family is spending the summer at her uncle’s estate. After arriving, Delia unexpectedly finds herself competing for an internship at the Time Museum—run by her Uncle Lyndon—which disregards the rules of time and space and features artifacts from across the planet’s existence. As she meets and trains with her fellow competitors, who include a girl from 23rd-century Japan and boys from prehistoric and Roman eras, Delia and her new friends realize that despite centuries of difference, they have much in common. However, these friendships become increasingly strained as they enter the final trials of the competition while having mysterious run-ins with a time traveler known as the Grey Earl. Loux uses vibrant colors and airy linework to sustain a sense of adventure, and his character sketches clearly communicate his protagonists’ emotions. Though the tale is action-packed and entertaining as Delia and friends zip across millennia, the characters’ personalities aren’t all fully developed. Even so, there’s plenty here to keep readers looking forward to future volumes. Ages 10–14. (Feb.)
"A first rate kickoff: fresh, fast, and funny." —Kirkus, starred review
"Vivid, almost garish illustrations are effectively zippy, matching the lightning-fast text...allowing for a primary tone of sheer adventure." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Comical antics, cinematic pacing, heartwarming friendship, and a fast-moving, wacky plot should make this a real hit among middle-grade fans of adventure comics." —Booklist
"A fun, fresh offering for the middle grade crowd." —School Library Journal
"Loux uses vibrant colors and airy linework to sustain a sense of adventure, and his character sketches clearly communicate his protagonists’ emotions." —Publishers Weekly
02/01/2017
Gr 4–6—Delia Bean loves science and history and excels at school, but when summer vacation begins, she's bored. When Uncle Lyndon invites Delia's family to visit him, she discovers that he's a curator at the Earth Time Museum, where the planet's greatest wonders are displayed. The museum is growing, and more and more employees are needed to time travel in search of exhibits. Uncle Lyndon offers Delia a chance to compete for an internship. Going up against young people from all of human history, Delia attempts to prove she's got what it takes to be an intern, all the while realizing that she's a natural born leader. The Bean Team, as she and her fellow travelers come to be known, must work together, but they learn the hard way that not all time travelers can be trusted. The narrative shares some elements with superhero comics: the members of the Bean Team all have interesting origin stories, and there's quite a bit of training and competing, but there's a good balance among action, character development, and theme. The pencil and ink illustrations with digital coloring call to mind television programming aimed at this audience, as does the pacing. The cliff-hanger ending is sure to leave middle graders anxious for the next volume in this new series. VERDICT A fun, fresh offering for the middle grade crowd. Hand it to fans of Jorge Aguirre's "The Chronicles of Claudette" or Ben Hatke's "Zita the Spacegirl."—Samantha Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OHAre your patrons itching to revisit days of yore and bygone eras? These recent novels take on historical fiction from varied perspectives, from a narrative set during the 1950s that tackles bias and prejudice to a tale of medieval London that incorporates fantasy and magic.Read the full review: Doan, p. 85; Goodman, p. 88; Holbrook, p. 90; Rose, p. 92.
★ 2016-11-16
Both deadly dangers and exciting research opportunities await science-mad Delia Bean once she stumbles into a museum with portals to any time and place on Earth.Time and space open up for Delia after she discovers that her beloved uncle Lyndon is in fact a time traveler from 51st-century Hoboken and in charge of the Earth Time Museum—a truly massive institution charged with preserving our entire planet's past and future. Invited to try out for a museum internship, Delia plunges into a whirlwind course of study and training with five other young competitors from various eras, then joins them in three on-site tests: a Cretaceous scavenger hunt; a trip to the ancient library of Alexandria to pick its most wondrous holding ("a Homeric book of practical jokes!" "That's a contender!"); and finally an expedition 1,000 years into the future to help deal with a worrisome plague of anachronistic "time discrepancies." Loux uses only minimal variations in hue to signal his mostly light-skinned cast's diverse origins, but his fluid lines and bright colors make the action (of which there is plenty) easy to follow. By the end his young ensemble, having weathered challenges ranging from their own rivalries to T. Rexes and a time rift that threatens to annihilate London, is a bonded team ready and eager for new adventures. A first rate kickoff: fresh, fast, and funny. (Graphic science fiction. 10-13)
