From Publishers Weekly
The latest addition to the cycle begun with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is just the sort of serious and thrilling fare young readers crave, a rip-roaring adventure in which a handful of good-hearted folk are pitted against a truly menacing villain. The children of London are steadily vanishing, and no one knows why. Is Twite (younger sister of Dido Twite, from Dido and Pa and Nightbirds on Nantucket ) sets out to discover the whereabouts of two lost children, her cousin Arun and Davie, the King's only son. Soon Is finds herself aboard a secret midnight train heading north to Playland, which--according to one of the many urchins also en route--is "a reel prime place . . . no work to do unless you fancies workin', fun an' frolic an' dancin' every night." In reality, the children's destination is a ghastly, underground slave labor camp ruled by the sinister Gold Kingy. Is realizes that she has been sent to rescue the children trapped in Gold Kingy's mines. Though jam-packed with strange details, quirky snatches of dialect and odd bits of rhyme, the story fairly gallops along; its momentum is only increased by Aiken's keen sense for the absolute terror of life under a dictatorship. No heavy-handed political allegory, this is a story of zest and sparkle, sad and frightening and defiantly hopeful all at once. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
The irrepressibly inventive Aiken returns to the Dickensian alternate Britain of Dido and Pa (1986) with a heroic adventure starring Dido's sister, Is. Ravening wolves pursue Is's uncle to her cottage; before expiring, he begs her to find his missing son. The quest leads Is to a London mysteriously bereft of children, including King Richard's only son, and on a dangerous mission to a new kingdom north of London, to which she travels on a train full of children convinced that they're on their way to ``Playland''--a cruel hoax: these innocents are to be enslaved in mines from which their only escape will be death. Feisty Is cleverly evades this fate, finds relatives to take her in, and learns that another uncle--a reprobate with even less to recommend him than her father--is the industrialist king and evil mastermind behind a vicious society that is literally expending its children in the service of greed. With courage, ingenuity, and telepathic communication, Is contrives--in a breathtaking climax--to free the children as a tidal wave destroys the villain's stronghold. The intricate story, rich with suspense, incisively drawn characters, and imaginative detail, comes to a largely tragic close, despite Is's triumph. Dark, compelling, and thoughtful--with hints of another sequel. (Fiction. 10-14) --
Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
