Locked in Time

Gr 7 Up—When Nore Robbins joins her father's new family in Louisiana, she discovers that the Cajun- and Creole-steeped history of her new stepfamily and the house at Shadow Grove are not what they seem in Lois Duncan's suspenseful novel (Little, Brown, 1985). Discomfited by the thrall that her preternaturally beautiful stepmother has over her dad, Nore begins to suspect that Lisette and her two children have a secret they're willing to do almost anything to keep: they are older—much older—than they appear and are locked in time. As cracks begin to surface in the seeming perfection of their idyllic existence, Nore is drawn into a web of deceit and the supernatural. The characters are not fully drawn, but Duncan keeps the plot racing along and creates a ton of atmosphere with the backdrop of a small town and a weathered plantation house. Jaselyn Blanchard does a fine job with the soft Louisiana accents, giving each character a unique voice. Some significant revisions from the original 1985 publication have been made to bring the story into the more technologically savvy 21st century, but it still feels a bit dated. Fans of romantic suspense and thrillers will probably enjoy this story.—Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI