Michelle and the Magic Timepiece
Russell D. Walker
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2006 PublishAmerica
ISBN: 142413143X

A treasure left by her father takes a girl, her grandfather & his dog on a fantastic journey.

Michelle and the Magic Timepiece is a grand fantasy halfway between the whimsey of The Wind in the Willows & the thrills (without the complexity) of The Chronicles of Narnia.

After her father died in a freak car accident three years ago, Michelle & her Mom have made the best life they can. Now Laura is going away on a business trip, & Grandpa Sam comes over to take care of Michelle while she's gone. He brings along Jake, his Golden Retriever, who tells the story of their adventure.

Before they go to bed that night, Grandpa Sam gives Michelle a box. In it, she finds her father's journal of his last expedition to the Amazon jungle, & a carved timepiece that isn't a clock. Without thinking, as she falls asleep, Michelle makes a wish.

When she awakens next morning her Teddy Bear talks to her, then the Timepiece starts glowing & Michelle starts yelling. As Grandpa Sam and Jake rush into her room they all become covered with a bright blue light which sends them spinning into a rainbow. When their feet hit the ground, they're in a place they've never seen before &, much to everyone's surprise, Jake can now talk.

On their search to get back home, they travel through a strange & beautiful world where signposts tell them where to go, willow trees weep to keep the crops growing, the folks in Dizzyville twirl around all the time to keep themselves safe from the Tyrant King, the Wolves of the Forest of Dread talk about courage, & Splash, the Queen of the Green River, shows them how to swim.

Rushing to save friends from fates worse than death, Michelle, Grandpa Sam & Jake come upon evil most mean, & must dig deep inside to find the strength, skills & courage to right the wrongs, & get their newfound friends to safety.

Then they have to get to get home before Laura does. On the backs of flying Unicorns, they make their way to the White Sand Castle in the middle of Mirror Lake where Queen Silky & the Dauber Wasps help them fly to Cloud Mountain & the Blue Portal.

Michelle and the Timepiece is a wild tale of fun, fear & family, cleanly written & imaginatively told, with quite a serious undertone about making choices, facing down evil, & keeping to the truth as close as you can, even under fantastic circumstances!

Very well done! This is a keeper filled with dazzling images & unusual friendships that generations of young readers will thoroughly enjoy.

It is also one of the manuscripts I edited from this debut author, & I am thrilled PublishAmerica accepted it, although I saw it as a full-color illustrated book. I am, however, keeping my fingers crossed that it will be picked up for a movie.
(05/07/06)

Rebecca