H. J. Ralles' last book in the Keeper series, Keeper of the Island, has been a rave among elementary
school children and young adolescents. In Ralles' biography, she says that in the late 90s, she sought out
novels for her children that dealt with computer themes but couldn't find very many. So, she wrote her own.
Thus the Keeper series began.
Matt, a young gamer, is sucked into a computer game and must complete each level in order to get home. By
book five, Keeper of the Island, Matt has a couple of friends with him who also have been transported
into the game: Targon, a boy about his age, and Varl, an older man. Each was found on a different level of the
game (and therefore in a different book).
In this adventure, Matt materializes with his laptop on board a sailing ship in the future and must deal with
sinister pirates, secret agents, and mutineers. Targon and Varl find themselves on an island near a mysterious
ancient pyramid that hides pirate treasure and more inside. They get involved with the local resistance and the
Mayor of the island.
Matt's computer gives him clues in the form of rhymes and he must figure out what the Keeper is and disable
it, as he has done for each previous level. But for this level, there are two Keepers and soon he finds that he
and his friends have different parts of the puzzle.
I had fun with this one. The adventure, disguises, and narrow escapes are sure to please any young reader.
The computer clues are carefully laid out and the solving of them is believable. But, the bonus with this book
is that it solves the mystery of the rest of the books and the game.
Ralles has a true winner here. Kids will love this series, and Keeper of the Island will leave them
wanting more. Ralles does have another series, Darok 9 and Darok 10, also about computers.