Another Review at MyShelf.Com

The Burning Pendulum
Fortune Tellers Club

By Dotti Enderle

     The Burning Pendulum looks at a serious issue in literature for young people -- banning books. Since I'm pretty strong-willed about the need not to ban books, I was looking forward to this one. As a story for kids, it works. The villain is unquestionably villainous. Juniper is an endearing reluctant hero. And the kid dialogue is terrific. Plus, it has the kind of happy ending we like in a book. As a book that looks at the issues surrounding book banning, it's probably a little more cartoon evil vs. good than happens in real life. Although the villain is certainly easy to hate, the resolution to the story depends more on the villain's stupidity than on the wrongness of book banning. In the end, we have no idea why the villain ever got involved since she neither has any real problem with using the occult nor does she care about human children (including her own). But, if you read it simply as a story -- it's fun, it's fast-paced, and it even offers a new use for those weird little glass marbles you see in craft stores.

The Book

Llewellyn Worldwide
January 2005
Paperback
0738705942
Ages 9 - 12
More at Amazon.com 

Excerpt

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The Reviewer

Jan Fields
Reviewed 2005
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© 2005 MyShelf.com