Wildwing

Gr 7—10—Trapped by her somewhat dubious parentage and the limited options available to women in 1913 England, 15-year-old Addy longs for a better life. However, after a scuffle incited by a classmate's taunts, she finds herself pulled from school and placed as a maid in the home of Mr. Greenwood, the local eccentric. Venturing behind the locked door of his study, she discovers a time machine that could be the key to escaping her life of drudgery. She travels back to 13-century England, where she is mistaken for Lady Matilda, the gentlewoman who is to be married to the lord of the local castle. She quickly learns to play her role, mastering the customs of the time and gradually realizing the political importance of the marriage. She also finds it impossible to resist her attraction to Will, the falconer's son. As she becomes more and more embroiled in events, she is forced to choose between the safety of her subjects or life with the man with whom she has fallen in love. Whitman populates both of her worlds with vivid, believable characters. Akin in tone to Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty (Delacorte, 2003), this historical novel with a time-travel twist of sci-fi will find an avid readership.—Sara Saxton, Tuzzy Consortium Library, Barrow, AK