A positively ingenious story about a mysterious island, long-lost secrets, and a young girl’s quest in the world of mad science!
In Linette Moore’s debut, middle-grade graphic novel, The Prisoner of Shiverstone, eleven-year-old Helga Sharp is found unconscious in a drifting rowboat near the coast of Utley Island. Utley, as Helga finds out when she awakens in the hospital, is forbidden territory: it’s a prison island to which the Mainland has exiled troublesome mad scientists for generations. Helga is questioned by the island’s guards and though they’re suspicious of her story, they agree to let her stay until they find her family.
The truth is, it’s no accident that Helga landed here. She is a keen inventor, but the Mainland is suspicious of all scientists and inventors. While working on her projects in secret, Helga made radio contact with Erasmus Lope, a mad genius who everyone thought had died in a lab experiment gone spectacularly wrong. But Lope is alive, and Helga is on a mission to rescue him from the prison island.
Now Helga must find a way to break Lope out, right under the noses of the family of famous heroes that run Utley Island. There’s only one big problem—Lope’s trapped inside a giant crystal in the mad scientists’ museum!
Fans of Red’s Planet and Suee and the Shadow are sure to love The Prisoner of Shiverstone, a charismatically illustrated mad science adventure for readers of all ages.
Full-color illustrations.
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Gr 4-7-While working on one of her inventions at boarding school, Helga accidentally makes radio contact with Erasmus Lope, a scientist who is trapped inside a crystal on an obscure island off the Mainland. Pretending to have been separated from her parents by a shipwreck, Helga infiltrates Utley Island, which is home to all of the mad scientists and inventors that the Mainland did not approve of. Once a prison, the island functions more like a town now (the town itself is located inside a crater) and is home to a variety of fascinating people, robots, and leftover inventions, as well as the shard of Shiverstone, the world's first energy source. It becomes clear from flashbacks that Helga's intelligence and interest in inventing are not appreciated by her family, school, or anyone else on the Mainland. Teaming up with robot Hedley, Helga tries to free Lope from the Shiverstone shard, while learning more about the town and the people who live there. This is a delightful, fast-paced read starring a protagonist whose love of science and adventure is at odds with societal expectations. Moore's background as a painter and cartoonist shines through in the sharp, angular art; character designs, especially some of the expressions, are reminiscent of classic newspaper comics. Helga appears to be white, though the island's residents include many people of color. VERDICT Highly recommended for middle grade graphic novel collections.-Marissa Lieberman