Product Description
The Dante Game takes Homer Kelly to magnificent, mysterious Florence, where he finds himself entangled in a mystery of murdered lovers, the disappearance of a star pupil, and a heroin ring shut down by the Pope's antidrug campaign. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Missing Mystery
This is an odd and ultimately unsatisfying book. The premise (a Game that revolves aroung Dante and the Divine Comedy) sounds wonderful, but it is completely under utilized and finally dropped completely. The settings and descriptions are well done, and the pictures scattered about the book are a nice touch. But the confusing thing is that Ms. Langton has a very bizzare concept of what constitutes a 'mystery.' For example, in a traditional mystery, the reader does not learn who the villian is on page 6! This strange technique basically removes any mystery to the story, and turns it into a not-so-thrilling thriller. Thus, this book's only saving grace is the descriptions of Florence, which is enough to elevate it above one star... barely.

where was the mystery?!
Pretty much of the story's outcome is evident before the reader is half way through the book. There is really only one "surprise" at the ending and I felt that it got wrapped up a little too neatly and quickly. There is some suspense, but it builds in choppy intervals and deflates, only to be pumped up again.

A number of ideas and characters didn't really go anywhere. The idea of a bumbling American academic involved in uncovering a major criminal conspiracy has much potential, but here Homer Kelly is a regular annoyance and the book could've done without him. Further, Julia's discovery of herself in Florence and in captivity could've have also thickened the stew and deepened her character, but instead Langton has her do a "Patty Hearst turn" and then repent - so we're told. She gets a hubby and a kid at the end but we understand little of her entry into redeeming domesticity.

The best character in the novel is the city of Florence, and Langton reaches genuine literary heights at the close of the book with her philosophical musings on the city and its history. There are also some amusing motifs, one being the portrayal of romantically-inclined, college-age students and their "like, you know" indifference to Florence's splendid cultural treasures. Methinks Langton may have once done an unsatisfying stint in a "study abroad" program.

The Dante Game is likely to satisfy those about to travel to Florence or who have just returned. Mystery buffs are better advised to read the classics:P.D. James, Martha Grimes. etc.

A Great Mystery, but something missing
This is the second Jane Langton mystery I have read and I enjoyed it more than "Dead as a Dodo." Langton's scenic descriptions of Florence are tempting to those who have never been there. However, as with the aforementioned novel, she comes up short with the character development. You are indeed kept guessing until the end, but when you finally get there it is hard to feel empathy, disgust or anything at all. The characters seem complex, but we never get to see those complexities revealed, and when they are, it is in a hurried fashion to tie up loose ends.

The book will appeal to anyone involved with university academia,anyone who has been to Florence, or anyone interested in the socio-political climate surrounding the Vatican. The writing is versatile and the cast of characters is amusing. I am not sure "A Homer Kelly Mystery" is an apt description because he is not featured in any special way in the novel and is one of the least interesting characters.

Overall, a good airplane read.

a fun read
I had just returned from Florence when I started _The Dante Game_ and it proved extremely helpful in easing the pangs of withdrawal.All the place descriptions and the drawings were exactly as I'd just experienced.The front flyleaf had an illustration of the street scene that was the exact view from my pensione window.And the story itself was fun and fast-paced.I do wish the characters had more depth, however.A lot was said about their looks (but no pictures, which I thought odd considering there were illustrations of all the sights they visited, so why not include sketches of the people, when their descriptions were just as prominent in the book) and a lot was expected to be gleaned from these descriptions, especially the near saintliness of the stunning woman at the center of it all and the unlikability of the oafish fat boy, which was just a tad too convenient, I thought, and not especially fair.But this makes it sound as if I didn't like the story, which I did.Also, I can't say enough about the beautiful illustrations of Florence's views.I sighed at the sight of each one.

Well-plotted, great setting
I haven't read the rest of the series, but enjoyed this one.Very well-plotted.If you're lucky enough to be in Florence when you read it, you'll enjoy all the references to locations.It works well, and whettedmy appetite for more by this author. ... Read more

Product Description
Children's book illustrator Annie Swann has built her dream house, where she's painting a thirty-five-foot wall with a rich, complex mural of fairy tales and folklore. But again and again--however often she paints it out--there appears on the wall a mysterious, eerie face. When Annie finds her tenants' retarded eight-year-old son lying dead beneath it, and his yuppie parents about to sue her for all she's worth, it's clearly a case for her uncle, Homer Kelly. Can Homer banish the wickedness from Annie's paradise, save her masterpiece, and scent out a cold-blooded murderer? Jane Langton's elegant prose and beguiling line drawings tell a tale of good and evil more than worthy of the Brothers Grimm.

From Jane Langton, "her best yet" Homer Kelly mystery (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)Amazon.com Review
Jane Langton's pen-and-ink illustrations, which decorate the pages of herbooks about retired Massachusetts detective Homer Kelly and his historianwife Mary, are as apparently simple--and deliciously deceptive--as herwords. Even if your mystery tastes run to the tough and hard, you'll havetrouble avoiding the warmth, sharp wit, and clever detection that animatethis series. "Homer Kelly had been Mary's husband for a long time," beginsa typical Langton paragraph. "He was a big man with a coarse gray beard anda rough head of hair like the thick fur of a dog. His impulsive enthusiasmshad often led him into absurdities in the past, but half a lifetime with asensible wife had mellowed him a little. So had his experience with violentcriminals." It's art that gets Homer and Mary involved in their 13thadventure, when an 8-year-old boy with Down syndrome is found murderednear a wall that Mary's niece has been illustrating with characters fromfairy tales. The missing, abused wife of a nasty property developer is alsopart of the mystery, which the Kellys unravel in a suspenseful andthoroughly plausible manner. Other Kelly outings available in paperbackinclude The DanteGame, Dark NantucketNoon, Dead as aDodo, DivineInspiration, EmilyDickinson Is Dead, God in Concord, Good and Dead, The Memorial Hall Murder, and Murder at theGardner. --Dick Adler ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

An engaging story, Even Though It is Slightly Flawed
This is my first introduction to Homer and Mary Kelly. I enjoyed these characters verry much because of there realistic portrayal and commic banter with one another. I understand that "The Face On the Wall" is the thirteenth installment in Ms. Langton's series. The best thing about this set of books is that you do not have to read the books in chronological order. I was perfectly able to understand the story and the relationship between the characters without having to begin at the start of the series.
"The Face On the Wall" is a gripping and mesmerizing read. The premise is that Mary Kelly's niece, childrens' book illustrator Annie Swann has recently had a new wing installed onto her house. Her dream of painting a thirty-foot wall mural with pictures of her favorite children's books is finally being realized. However, things are not going to smoothly fall in to place for Annie. As she begins to paint the mural, she becomes aware of a vicious and evil face which she has not painted that continuously appears on the wall. Even though she tries to sponge it away, it continues to reappear. Not only does this incident occur, but Annie, who has rented the second wing of her house to a family, is befriending there Down's Syndrome eight-year-old boy, Eddie, who comes daily to watch her paint and to listen to her stories. When Eddie is discovered dead from falling from the scaffolding which Annie uses for painting the mural, the tenant family accuse her of neglegence and sue her for everything she is worth. However, Annie knows that the family often neglected there son and she suspects them of trying to do him bodily harm. Now it is up to Homer and Mary Kelly to work together to clear Annie's name.
This mystery novel is filled with many unforgettable characters, and has some interesting subplots. Could the handyman whom Annie has hired be all that he seems, or is he someone totally different? The only minor complaint I have is the the tenant family seem so unbelievable. The father and mother lavish there attention upon the ten-year-old girl, Charlene, but brutally ignore their son. It is impossible to feel any impathy towards them. Jane Langton presented a coldblooded family who will stop at nothing to obtain the American Dream. Her novel is a true morality drama about the danger of greed. Her "Bad Seed" character, Charleen, is a prime example of the danger of selfishness and greed upon everyone in the world. Despite the minor complaint I made, this work is well worth trying. It is both humorous and poignant. Reading it will make people aware of the importance of fighting good and maintaining innocence even while evil rages. Happy reading!

Always Enjoyable
What an amazing author Jane Langton is. One of the blurbs on my edition of this book states, "Today's best American mystery writer." I usually take such things as hyperbole but in this case, the reviewer may be right as I would certainly place Ms. Langton in the top three along with Elizabeth George and Elizabeth Peters. In this entry, Homer and Mary are helping with two mysteries, one involving an old student of Mary's and the other involving Mary's niece Anna who has just built a new house. Of course, the two different mysteries become one eventually. As always, the antics of Homer are fun to read and how Mary puts up with him, I will never figure out. I have read all but one of the Homer & Mary mysteries and am trying to find a copy of the one I have not read. I would recommend starting with this series from as close to the beginning as you can as the progression of the relationship between the two main characters is important.

Living with Nightmares and Villains
Caution:This book deals with some pretty ugly subjects including spousal and child abuse, and contains much coarse and foul language.The crimes are pretty graphically described, which may also make this book a little too gritty for sensitive readers.As a movie, this material would definitely earn the book an R rating.

The Face on the Wall is the most subtle and rewarding Homer and Mary Kelly story in many years.I particularly liked the build up of suspense and tension as one calamity after another befalls children's book illustrator, Annie Swann, who is the Kelly's niece (on Mary's side of the family).Usually, the sense of drama in Ms. Langton's work is not nearly so palpable.

The plot is much more complicated than usual, and intelligently involves a large number of interesting characters.As a result, the action moves along faster and in more interesting ways than we have come to expect from Ms. Langton's fiction.

The book's major theme is about the vulnerabilities of innocence and goodness to those who are determined to do whatever it takes to succeed.In fact, the whole story can be read almost as though it is a morality play from the Middle Ages.

As you may know, Ms. Langton likes to let her readers in on who the murderer is early on.So the mystery is often mostly of how the mystery will be solved or the misdirection overcome.In this book, there are many more mysteries that do not necessarily match up with murder.

The book builds upon an opening in which Annie Swann is at the acme of her life.She has fame, fortune, talent, and rewarding work.Like many artists, she has conceived of a great masterpiece, a mural on the interior wall of a new wing she has built on her house.Obsessed with her creation, she finds herself pulled away from her goal by mysterious occurrences involving Eddy Gast, an 8 year-old boy with fine artistic talent who was born with Down's syndrome, and the unexplained appearances of menacing faces in her mural.Like an unstable scaffolding, the pieces of this self-perceived perfection suddenly begin to disintegrate around her.

After finishing this book, think about those you know who are most popular.Why do you think they are popular?Do they ever misuse this popularity?Have you ever misused your popularity?How can we help those who are popular to play a more positive role?

Seek first to do the right thing!

My first Jane Langton book & I really liked it!
It is very interesting to note that our fairy tale stories & rhymes run parallel with our real lives.The innocent victims & the evil villains do exist...& the perennial saying "good wins overevil" applies & comes true --- though they may take some time. Ispecifically liked the tale of the fisherman & his wife being comparedwith our villains.Greed!Greed & selfishness destroys our being& brings our downfall.Fred Small & the Gast family deserve whatthey got.The story may sound so hideous to some, but it is reality. People kill for money.Husbands kill their wives like Fred Small.&parents can kill their unfortunate children like Eddy, in exchange for someconvenience & take advantage of innocent victims like Annie.

A fun introduction to the series.
It's been a few years since I've read one of Jane Langton's Homer and Mary Kelly books, but this was a welcome return to the series. Langton's style tends toward the humorously melodramatic, which fits this particularplotline well. While the conclusion was no huge surprise, getting there wasthe most fun. (I especially liked her "bad seed" child character,Charlene.) ... Read more

Product Description
A young woman discovers a new world of experiences and fascinating friends during her first semester at college. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

It's all there!
The delights ofcollege, related by a gloriously extroverted Freshman girl -- friends, classes, in-jokes, mad crushes on professors -- it puts you in mind of Jean Webster's "Daddy Long-Legs", only updated to the seventies.How I loved that book!How I love this one!

An off-beat, totally charming look at college life.
Our heroine, Evelyn, is a freshman at college, and we follow her exuberant experiences as she plunges into the discovery of quirky acquaintances and the oddities of college life, pictured by Langton at her whimsical best. Most charming of all are here passionate "unsendable loveletters" to the professor she has a mad crush on.At once savvy andinnocent, determined to meet life head-on, Evelyn's first year ofindependance is a joy to share.Read this book, it's a treat! ... Read more

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A collection of eighty poems by the 19th century reclusive poet accompanied by paintings and drawings. ... Read more

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Ivan, the merchant's third son, having patience and an eye for opportunity, barters the cargo of his ship for a princess and a fortune. ... Read more

Product Description
* Viking will publish Jane Langton's 13th Homer Kelly mystery, The Face on The Wall, in January 1998 What is Homer Kelly doing in Oxford, England? In addition to working as a visiting lecturer, he's playing part-time detective, trying to solve the great questions of life and, along the way, the death of a young priest who has left a cryptic note saying simply, The answer is no.As he sets off on his search for answers to this most real and inauspicious death, Homer also begins a philosophical journey far more challenging than any begun in a classroom, and discovers a crime much more sinister and troubling: God himself seems dead as a dodo. Who committed murder sublime?Amazon.com Review
Eccentric Harvard philosophy professor Homer Kelly and hissharp wife Mary are like a literary Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man fame. Jane Langston hasput the frumpy professor through a series of whimsical mysteries for30 years now, but this is the most original and fanciful. Combininghard-edged crime suspense with philosophical meanderings, a meditationon Darwinism, intellectual curiousity, Alice inWonderland-styled zaniness, and a playful prose style, Dead asDodo is joyful reading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Do do read it!
This story really grew on me, taking me longer to read and ponder than I had expected. It is a leisurely story told in crisply short chapters. It begins as a rather fusty sabbatical visit to Oxford, England, by Harvard professors Homer and Mary Kelly (Langton's series characters), and turns into an enthusiastical meld of Alice in Wonderland and Darwinian evolution, especially in a climactic dream sequence! There are hidden depths to the situations and academic theories juxtaposed here. The eventual murders are almost beside the point. The joy in intellectual disputation herein made me not really worried for anyone. For a professor of English, Homer is quite a scientist, an experimenter, and not in the least PC and post-modern like his ilk. While rarely laugh-out-loud funny, Langton definitely has an amusingly light touch and a bit of satire. The book is illustrated with the author's jaunty sketches of Oxford places. I suspect that any knowledge of Lewis Carroll, Darwin, and Oxford will increase the pleasure of the reader still further.

An erudite mystery in the British Tradition
As if to take on the style of the British mysteries, Ms. Langton paces the plot fairly slowly, picking up speed toward the middle of the book. Less formulaic than Agatha Christie, Ms. Langton's book is more along the lines of P.D. James.Her references to Darwinian fact and fiction are formidable, and makes several pages more than simply "light reading."However, the scientific references and theological postulations never become tedious and in fact provide a lovely intellectual backdrop for a somewhat boring set of murders.

For those who enjoy something more than plot, this mystery is highly recommended.Anyone who has been to Oxford will most definitely enjoy Ms. Langton's thorough and fanciful descriptions.

Homer Kelly is as eccentric as he is brilliant, making for an excellent protagonist.However, some of the other characters are lacking in development which leads to a miniscule disappointment in reading the book.Otherwise, a delightfully well-written work.

A Literate, Literary Mystery Based on Evolution in Oxford
Dead as a Dodo is one of the best and most refreshingly original mysteries in the distinguished Homer and Mary Kelly series.

Jane Langton is well known for her mystery series featuring Homer and Mary Kelly (who both lecture at Harvard).In these books, she always manages to combine new perspectives on important 19th century thinkers by putting their ideas into today's context.The mysteries are illuminated by plots that investigate those philosophies, drawings by Ms. Langton of the surroundings, and intense local research into the physical surroundings.While her works in the past have mostly focused on Massachusetts, Dead as Dodo takes the Kellys across the pond to Oxford for a guest lectureship.The change of venue is a good one for fans of her work.

Oxford is rich ground for intellectual explorations.The book does a marvelous job of bringing Darwin's theory of evolution into the context of modern life and its meaning for spiritual beliefs.At the same time, Ms. Langton uses Lewis Carroll as a counterfoil with quotes and images from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

As always, Ms. Langton invents few facts, but does brilliantly extrapolate from what she finds on hand to see plot and story possibilities that would escape most visitors to the same environs.(When she wrote about Walden Pond, I could not believe that I was unaware of so many details . . . until I drove out to check.)

One of Ms. Langton's on-going themes in the series is how much humans fail to notice that is right under their noses.This book is one of the best at developing that theme.

While some would find sections of these mysteries a bit slow, Dead as a Dodo was the best paced mystery by Ms. Langton in years.I found myself enjoying every nuance on each page.

The mystery itself (like most of her mysteries) is not so terribly difficult to solve.The characters are remarkably rich and interesting ones, though, and will draw and keep your attention throughout.

After you finish this story, I suggest that you spend some time discussing what the theory of evolution means for how you think about the way life operates.Many of the concepts from The Origin of Species have become so deeply imbedded in modern thought that we are unaware of the assumptions we make.I found that this book allowed me to revisit those assumptions and to change many of them which I have held for many years.

For example, what does it mean that humans have vast sections of their brains that are unused?Why would we evolve this way?While no one can know for sure, it is certainly a fascinating question.

Adapt to the circumstances around you to thrive . . . or find yourself being like a fish out of water! ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1980 and nominated for a National Book Award, Acts of Light includes Dickinson's best-loved poems as well as an extensive essay on the poet's life in Amherst, Massachusetts. Color paintings. ... Read more

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When the retirees of the trailer park community located on a choice piece of property begin to die mysterious deaths, Homer Kelly investigates, certain that their deaths are linked to the sudden interest in development in the town. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Mystery and New England Nostalgia
Jane Langton's Homer Kelly is one part absent-minded professor, one part Doctor Who (sans time travel) and one part...well, Homer Kelly. Suffering from JFS (Jessica Fletcher Syndrome), mystery and death seem to "sniff out" Homer, rather than the other way around.

The story is not just merely about scenic suburban life and the petty trifles of its inhabitants. That provides the narrative façade for an astute commentary regarding the politics of development/city planning, environmentalism and the dangers/benefits of nostalgia.

Langton's characters are vividly multi-dimensional, torn in their allegiances by both heart and mind. The author asks the reader not to pass immediate judgment, suggesting that the potential for villainy resides within us as well, under the right set of circumstances.

I think this is one of Langton's better books in the series. Highly recommended for Thoreau buffs and those readers familiar with Boston/Concord, Massachusetts.

I liked this mystery!
I loved Thoreau's Walden -- and therefore loved the backdrop of this mystery -- and I love mysteries, though I read only about 1/3 of the mysteries I pick up and this one was fun and one you can put down, as each chapter was rather a chocolate; the characters were foibled, the conversations spirited and it was engagingly plotted. ... Read more

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Jane Langton's spellbinding text captures all the drama and romance of this Swedish folktale, while Ilse Plume's lavishly detailed paintings draw the reader right into the heart of this story of good triumphing over evil. Full color. ... Read more

Product Description
An exhibit of the work of the Dutch artist M. C. Escher is being held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to amateur sleuths Homer and Mary Kelly and their friend Leonard Sheldrake. At the exhibit, Leonard, an avid Escher fan, falls instantly in love with a woman in a green coat who is equally enthralled by Escher's brilliance. To Leonard's dismay, she hurriedly leaves the exhibit, hinting to him that if he knew her better, he would not love her. Homer and Mary offer to help a now desperate Leonard find the woman but end up in an Escher-like labyrinth of their own. Enhanced with Escher illustrations throughout, Langton creates a world where every line, curve, and angle lead to murder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

"...Wandering around in enigmas"
This book is the sixteenth 'Homer Kelly' mystery, published in 1992, and is another charmingly offbeat journey through Cambridge, Massachusetts, this time concentrating on the Mount Auburn Cemetery and an exhibition of the twentieth-century Dutch artist Maurits Escher.

Like many of the creatures in an Escher print, the characters in this book metamorphose into one another, one via plastic surgery and another by some kind of mysterious metaphysics.

Unfortunately, although I enjoyed the book and the usual antics of Homer and his wife, Mary, I couldn't quite develop a relationship with one of the main characters:the little old landlady who pays daily visits to her deceased husband in Mount Auburn Cemetery.The author resorts to having people fall in love with Eloise Winthrop because of her beautiful smile (very sloppy, Jane).

However, the mysterious and villainous woman in the green coat who lies on her son's grave in Mount Auburn Cemetery, and sends him letters via a metal box, more than makes up for the bland landlady.She is truly spooky.Wait till you find out how her two-year-old son died.

There are many fatal symmetries in the plot, which kicks off when two people fall instantaneously in love with each other at an exhibition of the work of M.C. Escher.They drift together in front of his wood-engraving called 'A Dream.' (A sleeping or dead bishop with a praying mantis on his chest).Leonard, a crystallographer loses track of his new love, Frieda as she suddenly bolts out of the exhibition, wearing a green coat.

Actually, two women in identical green coats leave the Escher exhibition together.They look very much alike, but can be differentiated by their actions.One tries to hide from the other, who proceeds to roll an old man down the stairs at a nursing home, and heave a geologist named Leonard out of a tower in Mount Auburn Cemetery, killing both of the men.

Leonard, the crystallographer starts to metamorphose into Leonard, the deceased geologist. His hair begins to form a part on the wrong side of his head.He starts to see silent funeral processions at the cemetery, where his landlady visits her dead husband.

It is interesting to watch the author weave her physical and metaphysical plot lines together, using Escher's prints and quotations as a constant theme.In her afterword, Langton quotes Albert Flocon concerning Escher:"His work teaches us that the most perfect surrealism is latent in reality..."

That's a good description of the structure of this intriguing murder mystery.

Based on the drawings of M C Escher
The Escher Twist is lots of fun for anyone who enjoys the drawings of M C Escher. This Boston-based murder mystery is illustrated throughout by reproductions of his art work, including those persistent ants on their twisted band of paper.

Like Escher's parade of ants on the Möbius strip, the characters march around and around and end up back where they started. Like Escher's "Birds and Fish", The plot has repeating patterns that change subtly over time until they turn into something quite different. The images in Escher's "Reflecting Sphere" become Doppelgänger. (How many women in green coats? How many shy Leonards?) Most dramatically, there are the stark contrasts of dark and light: Here is love and hate; joy and tragedy; kindness and malevolence.

The husband and wife detective pair of Homer and Mary Kelly struggle to relate the people in torn pieces of family photographs. Which is up and which down? Who is parent and who child?And just as the puzzle pieces begin to fit, the pattern breaks up again like a surreal dream.By the way, just in case you rushed to read the book without checking its cover, count carefully how many pillars there are in the pagoda.

A Lovely Math Mystery
First off, I have never read Jane Langton before.I picked this book up from the New Mysteries section of my local library, based entirely on its intriguing cover (yes, I judged the book based on its cover).

Having never read Jane Langton before, I knew only what the back of the book stated.After reading it, I am ready to rush out and find more of her books.

I give this book five stars because it grabbed me.And it grabbed me right away.The characters were fascinating from the get-go, especially the way they were introduced.I have never been to Cambridge, but I felt that Langton painted the town with vibrant yet surreal colors.

In addition, this book contained a lot of math concepts that I did not know about before, but were presented in such a way as to not seem confusing or above my head.In fact, I had to make my own Moebius Strip just to see for myself how wonderful they are.The theme was well carried in this book.Big thumbs up!A mystery like no other I have read.Cannot wait to read another one.

Not her best effort
I am a big fan of Jane Langton's, having read all but two of her earlier Homer Kelly mysteries (no longer in print). I have to say that while this book is better than most mysteries being sold today, it is not great in comparison with her earlier efforts.
In this entry, Homer & Mary Kelly set out to help a man, Leonard Sheldrake, find a woman with whom he has fallen in love (at first sight while at an Escher exhibition in a museum). The woman is not easy to find as she is attempting to avoid one of her relatives, a woman set on vengeance for the death of her baby.
The plot of this book is not as complicated as others by Ms. Langton but still was sometimes a bit confusing for me, particularly with regards to some torn up photographs found by Leonard. I had to read the paragraphs describing the pictures a couple of times to get the images straight in my mind and even then I am not for sure that I had it all correct.
But, when all is said and done, this is a good book and I would recommend it to anyone, particularly if they are already familiar with the series.

"The Escher Twist" Winds Around an Artful Plot
It doesn't take long to figure out that Jane Langton's use of Escher prints provides creative foreshadowing in "The Escher Twist." Just like the Escher prints used throughout the book, you're not sure if you are seeing what you think you are seeing. The characters in this delightful story ramble through the plot at a relaxed, though never dull, pace. The main characters' child-like views of the world are just innocent enough to be charming without drifting over the "Dumb and Dumber" fault line. "The Escher Twist" winds down to a tidy and satisfying conclusion. ... Read more

Product Description
The new bike isn't pretty...

Not like the slick, red, twenty-one-speed bike that was stolen the very night Eddy had received it as a birthday present. The bike that Prince Krishna sent is old-fashioned and has a wicker basket -- the kind of bike no self-respecting boy like Eddy would be caught dead riding. Soon, though, Eddy doesn't care how the bike looks, because it has the ability to travel in ways he never thought possible -- in the fourth dimension. Eddy can't wait to take the ride of his life, visit important dates in history, and find a way to bypass exam week. But trips through time can have unpredictable results, and they're not always without danger...

Customer Reviews (6)

Bike of Wonders!!!!
I am currently reading this novel.This is a great book and should have been a Newbery candidate!!!!

The Time Bike is the best book I've read
This book is about a boy who gets a bike for his birthday. The bike was the newest one in town. When the boy leaves it unchained on his front porch it gets stolen. A few days later a prince that is that is married to his older sister sends him a new bike from the 1980's but the boy didn't know that it was magic and could travel through time. The boy makes some big mistakes while traveling through the past and future. He makes a really big mistake but you will have to read the book to find out what it is.

I think you should read this book because it is a great fantasy book. It will really blow you back on your heals! It is also a great children's book. You should read it today.

-Brendan

Trips in time
Are you intrested in the past, or the future? Do you like science fiction? I do not, but if you do, The Time Bike is the book for you. The book is about a boy named, Eddy, who gets a mysterious bike. He doesn't know what kind of bike it is until he sees a clock on it. When he figures that it is a time bike, he uses it many times. I gave this book two stars because I liked some of the adventures that Eddy went on, but not all of them. For example, on one of them, Eddy went back in time to learn about Henry David Thoreau. One of the adventures that I liked was when Elenor (Eddy's sister) had a turn on the bike. I wish that I could go to some of the places they went. I was disappointed that I didn't learn about Mr. Thoreau when Eddy went back in time. I recommend this book to an eleven or twelve year old.

The Time Bike
Well The Time Bike is a great book to read in your spare time since its short but still I may be wrong ,right?If your 9,10,or 11 this book would be great for you.It might not be better then Jane Langton's other books like The Fledgling but i may be wrong I havn't read it yet but I am!I dont really want to give the book away but ill say one thing so im warning you if you dont want to know STOP READING NOW!Well if you choose to listen here it goes, dont say I didnt warn you:Eddy gets a bike and its a time bike.Since I dont want to tell everthing about the book and ruin it hmmm...thats all folks.Haha!Well for the One sentence 9 words summary.Haha!Ive got one more thing to say though.If you look I gave this book 5 stars because I like time well not like how I like math,science,and school.But time traveling would be how should I say this.....FUN!Not that I tried it but theres not a lot of time traveling in the book.The books about... at least I think its about a boy who gets a bike and finds out the bike is special very special and he wants to tochange the world and history!Just read the book alredy!

charming and thought provoking
While not as wonderful as Diamond in the Window and the novels that follow (Swing in the Summerhouse, Astonishing Stereoscope, Fledgling, Fragile Flag) this is nonetheless a lovely, funny, thoughtful book and a worthwhile continuation in the saga of the eccentric Hall family of Concord, MA. I'm not sure how well it stands alone. The entire series is best appreciated in relation to the other novels (why, why, why doesn't the publisher put out a boxed set of paperbacks for the current genenration? )However, my children and I enjoyed it immensely, and we all hope against hope that Mrs. Langton will write more books in the series. They even inspired us to go to Concord for our spring break vacation last year! ... Read more

Product Description
Everything depends on them....

When Georgie Hall decides to walk from Concord, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., with a letter to the President and an old flag capable of producing magical visions, no one doubts that she has the will or ability to do it. Along with her stepcousins Eleanor and Eddy, Georgie begins the Children's Crusade to stop the President from building a globally fatal nuclear bomb, known as the Peace Missile. But 450 miles is a long way to walk, and even as the Crusade picks up members along the way, its marchers can't help but wonder if their actions will make a difference, or if it is already too late....

Customer Reviews (6)

A great story that works on many levels
Twenty years after it was first published, "The Fragile Flag" is still an entertaining story for children and adults alike. Of course, Jane Langton's clever satire works best for people who remember the 1980s. But sophisticated young readers should be able to decode the allegory even today.

The author has done a fine job capturing the childish earnestness of the mid-1980s disarmament movement, portraying it here as a literal band of children marching to Washington to protest deployment of the "Peace Missile," a sort of combination of two of the movement's bêtes noire, the "Peacekeeper" ICBM and the Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars." Singing "We Shall Overcome," no less, the children march south to face down a scheming, hyper-patriotic President. Few writers for young adults, in my experience, have so clearly revealed the Left's essential view of America, not as rational adults capable of debating policy on its merits, but rather as "a mighty swarm of children" (p. 264). Having them base their beliefs on fuzzy emotionalism and (drug-induced?) visions of all the people and animals going up in a ball of fire is just one example of the precision of her satire.

Of course, this book isn't just a simple allegory. Its elements of fantasy make it especially entertaining. In the real world, could a march like the Peace Pilgrimage have made it two blocks without the harpies from Child Protective Services descending on it? Would any sensible parent allow pre-teens to undertake an epic like this, not only unsupervised, but in the company of an infant? (That infant, by the way, is one of Langton's true gems. Not only does his name, Carrington, imply that even in his infancy he is "caring [a] ton" about the future of the earth, but it is also a clear dig at the fictional family from theTV series "Dynasty," a Reagan-era exemplar of the materialistic super-rich. Even Blake and Krystle, she seems to be saying, can redeem themselves by being born again [!] with the faith of precocious babies.) In fact, the world of rational adults -- of grown-ups with telling names like Mrs. Brisket and Miss Prawn, suggestive again of man's continual cruelty to animals -- is rejected entirely, so complete is the author's allegory.

Who needs Ann Coulter's sledgehammer when we've got Jane Langton's rapier? If she'd had her Peace Pilgrimage continue all the way down to Nicaragua, the littlest Sandalistas might have might have succeeded in souring Gen X on the Left entirely. Oh, for what could have been!

Inspirational
The fragile flag shows how one person's convictions can change the world. I was impressed by the author's lesson to children about their rights as Americans; that if you do not speak up to defend your rights, they will be taken away.

an important book for parents to discuss with their children
I read this book many years ago and I still have a copy on my shelf.I think all parents who have strong feelings about nuclear disarmament should read this to their children and use it as a jumping off point to discuss nuclear weapons, war, and the impact that softspoken leaders like Mahama Ghandi and little Georgie (the book's main character) can have when our nations' leaders let fear prevail over morality.I also believe it reminds those who seek to use the flag as a symbol of blind patriotism and allegiance to American military actions that pacifists can be patriots, too.There is so much to carry away from this simple, but elegantly written book that an elementary or junior high school student can understand and appreciate...it certainly speaks to many of the issues that are being debated in the current political climate.

GREAT!
I just got this book out of the library, and it was GREAT! I thought it looked dumb, but when I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading. Georgie leads the march and they walk to washington, DC. Preisident Toby isn't real, but the author makes him sound so real! My favorite characthers are Georgie and Weezie. To bad this book is out of print.

Still sticks in my head after 15 years!
I read this book when I was a kid!And it still sticks with me after all these years.All I remember is this chick walks to washington dc.Pretty cool though.I'd buy it if I were you.Too bad it's out of print. ... Read more

Product Description

Life in the Halls' house in Concord is many things, but it is never boring. Even something as simple as having a family friend come for a visit can lead to the unexpected, the enchanted, the mysterious -- in this case, the most amazing, most mysterious circus ever.

Customer Reviews (7)

The Mysterious Circus
The Mysterious Circus (Hall Family Chronicles)
This is a great book for all ages.If you begin with 'The Diamond in the Window" as I did as a teen, you will have a great introduction to the Hall Family.If you haven't read it, you will have no problems in getting to know them in this book as new developments in their personalities come forward.
Jane Langton has a great talent for interweaving Transcendental logic through her books while spinning magic into the small lives of the Hall children while keeping notice of their normal childhood faults.In this, the reader is introduced to a simple and accepting attitude toward themselves as well as others.
I especially recommend this book for children from age 10 and up.It would be nice for such an influence to be introduced to them through their own personal revelation while reading it.The 'Diamond in the Window' influenced me as a young teen and now that I'm a grandmother and reading the rest of the Hall Family Chronicles that I missed before, I've realized that I still adhere to the humanitarian viewpoints introduced to me earlier in my life from reading books such as these.

The Mysterious Circus
This book is yet another in Jane Langton's wonderful, imaginative and quirkily funny series about the Hall family.The children (the main focus of the book) are realistic & believable.Same with the adults.The plot centers around the creation of a circus using a combination of magic and the skills of a group of ordinary children who become extra - ordinary through their own efforts and self-realization. All this happens during an attempt to 'Disney-fy' a local park by a peculiar and sinister-but amusing villainess.Very enjoyable read.

A new adventure revolving around Eleanor, Eddie and Georgie and their new friend Andy
Fans of the prior Diamond In The Window and other stories will find a new adventure revolving around Eleanor, Eddie and Georgie and their new friend Andy. And Uncle Krishna is back, too, adding his magic to the appearance of a mysterious circus with strange people and events. Langton is at her best in exploring the peculiar forms of magic Eleanor and her sibling are particularly vulnerable to, and The Mysterious Circus doesn't disappoint.

A new adventure revolving around Eleanor, Eddie and Georgie and their new friend Andy
Fans of the prior Diamond In The Window and other stories will find a new adventure revolving around Eleanor, Eddie and Georgie and their new friend Andy. And Uncle Krishna is back, too, adding his magic to the appearance of a mysterious circus with strange people and events. Langton is at her best in exploring the peculiar forms of magic Eleanor and her sibling are particularly vulnerable to, and The Mysterious Circus doesn't disappoint.

A new adventure revolving around Eleanor, Eddie and Georgie and their new friend Andy
Fans of the prior Diamond In The Window and other stories will find a new adventure revolving around Eleanor, Eddie and Georgie and their new friend Andy. And Uncle Krishna is back, too, adding his magic to the appearance of a mysterious circus with strange people and events. Langton is at her best in exploring the peculiar forms of magic Eleanor and her sibling are particularly vulnerable to, and The Mysterious Circus doesn't disappoint.
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Product Description
Saint Francis was born in 1182, the son of a wealthy merchant. After a swashbuckling youth in Assisi, he had a change of faith and decided to live the life that he ascribed to Jesus, one of poverty and abstinence. He gave away everything he owned. His father disowned him. But over the years he drew to himself a substantial following of men and women and died revered and beloved in 1225. Three years later he was canonized as Saint Francis of Assisi by Pope Gregory IX.

This lovely retelling of one of the lesser known of the Saint Francis lessons centers on the legend of the great wolf of Gubbio, a ferocious canine who terrorized the town and was slowly reducing it to penury and starvation. In nearby Assisi, Brother Francis heard of their plight and came to their rescue. Unbelievingly, the villagers watched from the ramparts as Brother Francis called to the wolf, tamed it with his tenderness, and made it pledge that if the people of Gubbio would care for it, he would do them no harm. He took the pledge and lived in harmony with the citizens of the city until his death.

Jane Langton has retold the legend with her usual lucidity and grace, and Ilse Plume, an Italophile and the illustrator of three previous Godine books, has supplied the rectos with illustrations that glow with the intensity of Renaissance jewelry. A perfect gift for Easter or anyone who embraces the relationship between man and the natural world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A terrible wolf is terrorizing the fortified town of Gubbio, gradually starving its people

Saint Francis and the Wolf is a picturebook retelling of one of the less well-known legends of the beloved Saint Francis of Assisi. A terrible wolf is terrorizing the fortified town of Gubbio, gradually starving its people; Brother Francis sets out to rescue them. The villagers watch in amazement as Francis calls to the wolf, tames it, and makes it pledge never to harm the people of Gubbio so long as they care for it. The wolf accepts the pledge and lives in harmony with Gubbio for the rest of its life. Caldecott Honor illustrator Ilse Plume brings the legend to life with soft, colored-pencil style artwork, in this gentle storybook written for young readers of all religious faiths.
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