Review: The Not So Midnight Ride of...Can YOU Guess?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2013
RIDE OF A LIFETIME is book two in Penny Estelle's The Wickware Sagas...a middle grade's Time Travel-Adventure.Where to begin? I am NOT a student in the middle grades, so you would suspect I might not find this book entertaining...but you'd be wrong!My daughter, award winning author Kat Holmes and I are both fans of history. One of our biggest beefs about the way history is often taught is it isn't taught in a way that will draw our children in and make them WANT to learn about the path those who've come before us have taken...Penny Estelle has ingeniously solved that issue by creating a magical entry into our past that allows the reader to LIVE history. Through her masterful unraveling of Time Travel, she does via reading what the Carmen Santiago series did for computer games. Anything that makes learning history fun and memorable deserves more than just passing kudos.In THIS installment of the Wickware Sagas we have a bully, newly located to Miss Wickware's class in Arizona who has a lot to learn.The journey Jim Abernathy, this very angry young man is catapulted into is nothing short of brilliant. Ms. Estelle deals with Jim's cruel defenses, while also looking for the past that became the stepping stones of our history today.History is important. As a retired teacher I have only one regret...Ms. Estelle's story was not available for me to base my lesson plans on during my teaching career. I would gladly have made her book required reading, and the core of frequent discussion groups...it's THAT good.I cannot recommend this book more highly. To any teachers reading this review, please get your hands on this book and write it into your upcoming lesson plans. The lessons it addresses are worth sharing and exploring.To parents, in our fast paced world, many details of how we became the people we are today have gotten lost...Ms. Estelle brings us back to some of our historical events, time and distance have long since muted. We owe it to our ancestors to remember, and honor the path they cut, but we also owe it to ourselves to enjoy while learning to honor.I cannot give this book less than FIVE STARS and be both honest with you, the readers, and my own integrity.Well Done Ms. Estelle. I am now off to check out Book One in this Series...BILLY COOPER'S AWESOME NIGHTMARE.