The Crimson Shard (Blackhope Series #2)

by Teresa Flavin

Overview

A shard of crimson stone, a magical elixir, and a painted doorway that opens to the past . . .

During what seems like an ordinary museum visit, a tour guide lures Sunni and Blaise through a painted doorway, where they discover they’ve stepped into eighteenth-century London.

When they realize their "tour guide" will do anything to learn what Sunni and Blaise know about magical paintings, they attempt to flee and encounter body snatchers, art thieves, and forgers in this gripping sequel to The Blackhope Enigma.

Can they evade their captors and figure out how to get back home before it’s too late? Or will keeping their secret safe mean they’re stuck in the past forever?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763662080
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/11/2012
Series:	Blackhope Series , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Teresa Flavin was born in New York and studied art in Boston and at Syracuse University. After moving to Glasgow, Scotland, she was awarded the Scottish Arts Council New Writers Bursary. She has illustrated a number of picture books. Her first novel, The Blackhope Enigma, was nominated for a 2011 CyBILs award.

I was born in New York and my family moved around New England when I was growing up. Our house was always full of books and I loved to read, especially Nancy Drew mysteries. The first book I ever bought was A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett—I found it in a book sale for only five cents and it even has the author’s autograph! The first painting I remember making was of a Hawaiian lady swimming the backstroke under a palm tree. It was just a stick figure but I was hooked. Ever since then, making pictures has been my favorite activity.

I studied illustration in art school and knew that one day I would illustrate books. I made a huge move to the United Kingdom, where I illustrated a number of picture and chapter books for children and young adults. One day I began writing my own stories to illustrate. Although at first I made up stories for children’s picture books, I sometimes wondered about writing a novel for older readers. When the idea for The Blackhope Enigma came to me, I put everything into it. I learned a lot about being a writer and was so proud when it was published in the U.K. and the U.S. I knew that there needed to be more stories about the main characters, Sunni and Blaise, so I wrote The Crimson Shard and I I feel incredibly lucky to be able to write and illustrate my own stories!

Three Things You Might Not Know About Me:
1. I used to be a DJ and I love all kinds of music.
2. I bake a mean chocolate cake.
3. I love snorkeling!

Editorial Reviews

Youngsters will easily follow the action... The characters are richly drawn and the pace brisk, for Sunni and Blaise’s window—or door, in this case—of opportunity is quickly closing. A gripping continuation.
—Kirkus Reviews

The characters are appealing and the adventure is exciting and full of incident...Fans of the first book will most likely enjoy this one, too, and the door is left open for future adventures
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Gr 4–7—In this sequel to The Blackhope Enigma (Candlewick, 2011), Sunni and Blaise are lured through a doorway in a trompe l'oeil building into mid-18th-century London by the evil Throgmorton and his daughter, Livia. Put to work as virtual slaves with other boys in a house that doubles as an art factory, creating forgeries, they are desperate to return to their own time. As they escape and try to unravel the mystery around the house's owner, stolen paintings, and Throgmorton's ability to travel through time, they encounter various people who help and threaten them. The characters are appealing and the adventure is exciting and full of incident, but its meaning and significance remains elusive. Fans of the first book will most likely enjoy this one, too, and the door is left open for future adventures.—Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City

School Library Journal

In the sequel to The Blackhope Enigma (2011), a villain abducts Sunni and Blaise to discover the secrets they learned while inside magical artist Fausto Corvo's painting. Using an elixir to take them through a trompe l'oeil door, Throgmorton traps them in 1752 London. While the two faced dangers in their first ordeal, the tale was also suffused with whimsy and light. This time, they must cope with a situation much harsher than any they have ever known. To force them to talk, Throgmorton holds them captive in an art academy, producing forgeries. After a fellow apprentice who displeases Throgmorton is sold to anatomists, they quickly stop complaining about the gritty clothes, bad food and dim candlelight, as well as the disruptive habit of first and second sleep--a setting so well-described, readers will feel and breathe it. With the help of two colorful thieves and a set of aristocrats seeking diversion, Sunni and Blaise escape and search for a magician who can help them travel back to the future. Youngsters will easily follow the action, whether or not they read the first book. The characters are richly drawn and the pace brisk, for Sunni and Blaise's window--or door, in this case--of opportunity is quickly closing. A gripping continuation. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews