The Acadian Secret
By Tammy Lowe
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Youth
Published April 2013
Pages: 183
Publisher: MusilItUp Publishing
Summary: "Elisabeth London is
keeping her new friends a secret from her parents. Not only do they live
on the other side of the world in the Scottish Highlands, they lived
more than three hundred and fifty years ago. Her mom and dad would never
allow her to go gallivanting about seventeenth century Scotland. They
won’t even let her go to the mall by herself yet.
Twelve-year-old
Elisabeth is old enough to know there is no such thing as magic, but
when her quartz crystal necklace has the power to transport her back and
forth in time, she no longer knows what to think. The only thing she is
certain of is that she loves spending carefree days with Quinton, the
mischievous nephew of a highland warrior, and sassy little Fiona, a
farmer’s daughter.
However, Elisabeth’s adventures take a deadly
turn when she is charged with witchcraft. At a time and place in
history when witch-hunts were common, those found guilty were executed,
children included. Elisabeth must race to find her way back home, while
trying to stay one step ahead of the witch-hunter determined to see her
burned at the stake."
Review:
Overall, I liked this
book. It was a good mix of adventure, magic, fun, friendship and traces
of potential romance. A time-travelling adventure layered with plots
and sub-plots.
The main character is a girl named Elisabeth who is
of current time and soon finds herself in Scotland, back in the 1600's!
Yikes! What a change that must be. She soon learns it is connected
to a necklace she bought. She meets makes some new friends and she
teaches them about the future a bit by introducing them to 'modern'
music, video games, chocolate, etc. Her problem is not everyone likes
what she seems capable of doing ans think she is a witch.
Amongst
this theme was another story, taking place in the late 1700's with
young John who is determined to find and prove there is treasure on Oak
island. This story-line kept alternating with Elisebeth's story. While
I liked the history lesson here about the early excavations, we do not
see how this ties in until the end. Where a certain man crosses both
stories. Frankly, I do not think this line was needed. Just seemed
like an odd filler. The only way I could fuller appreciate this is if
the author does a sequel bringing this man to light more. We see him
periodically but never seem to really learn much about him.
Some
odd things I also noticed in the story is when Elisebeth beings a game
from Quinton to play at first is sounds like a handheld game (DS, PSP,
etc) but then it is referred to as a computer game a couple times. So I
want to know what she brought. A laptop? Also, at one point she helps
Fiona dye her hair using her mother's home dye kit. Now, Fiona's hair is
black. But after just one dye and a quick jump in the local Lock, and
she comes up from the water with golden blonde hair. Now, I have dyed
my hair blonde from both auburn and brown. Never once did it go blond
after just 1 home kit use. I want to know what brand that was. I want
it!
The Scotland setting was well done, the voices, the clothing,
the food, etc. Also the witch hunts and how those suspected of
witchcraft were tested, Nicely done. The author did her homework.
From the setting, to Oak Island. I was very impressed with that.. If I see a second book come of this explaining
Elisebeth and the 'mystery man' I will likely bump this up in rating a bit.
Special thanks to the author for giving me the opportunity to read
this book. The book was given in return for a fair and honest review.
