The Time Museum (Time Museum #1)

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.

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.)

"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