Nick Of Time Ted Bell by Ted Bell 9780312380687, 0312380682 instant download after payment.

Starred Review. Grade 6–9—This is an immensely appealing book about 12-year-old Nick McIver, son of a lighthouse owner, who lives on Greybeard Island off the coast of Great Britain in 1939. Opening with a thrilling near-fatal sailboat excursion, the action kicks into high gear when Nick finds a sea chest containing a mysterious glowing globe. Hunted by pirates from the past who seek the globe, a time-travel device, Nick finds himself bouncing back and forth in time fighting exceedingly nasty pirates, Napoleon's naval forces in 1805, and Nazi spies in 1939. Nick is the pluckiest, most likable boy-hero since Robert Lewis Stevenson's David Balfour (Kidnapped). With great battle scenes; lots of nautical jargon; and themes of courage, integrity, and honor, this book will appeal to restless boys who can never find books written just for them. Three huzzahs and a great big 21-gun salute to Bell for his first novel for kids. Hopefully, it won't be his last.—Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK

From Booklist

In 1939, Nick McIver finds a sea chest washed up on the island in the English Channel where he lives. Soon after, he and his younger sister run afoul of the menacing pirate Billy Blood, who seems to have stepped right out of the eighteenth century, as well as a group of Nazis patrolling the waters in an experimental U-boat. Inside the chest is a time machine (built, naturally, by Leonardo da Vinci) and a cry for help from another Nick McIver, who was a captain in Lord Nelson’s fleet. It’s hard to imagine a more fail-safe recipe for a successful middle-grade adventure than pirates, Nazis, and time travel, but the ingredients never quite cohere. Pages are peppered with exclamation points in lieu of earned excitement, and readers may stumble through the nautical terminology as well as a few inevitable temporal anomalies. There is a wave of publicity in store for this, though, so expect considerable interest for this slightly overengineered but still engaging seafaring and time-skipping adventure. Sequels? Count on it. Grades 5-8. --Ian Chipman