Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow
James Rollins
HarperCollins (2009)
ISBN 9780061473791
Reviewed by Ben Hartman (age 11) for Reader Views (9/09)
“Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow” by James Rollins was a terrific fantasy book. This book is fantasy because it involves fantasy creatures, such as grackyls and sting tails. It takes place in two different worlds, the real world and an ancient world filled with long lost tribes. The second world has not a trace of modern technology. Jake and Kady Ransom, brother and sister, are the main characters. Jake is brave and curious while Kady is the opposite, self-centered and ignorant.
The adventure all started when Jake and Kady received tickets in the mail to their missing parents’ exhibition at the BritishMuseum. Their parents were famous archeologists who disappeared while on an excavation. When they got to the museum, the two got some time to look around before anyone else entered the exhibit. Almost immediately, Jake noticed something. In the golden pyramid his parents had discovered, there was a hole. Jake’s fingers went to his neck had he grasped the half of a Mayan coin hanging there. He called Kady over to get the two halves together and put the coin in the hole inside the pyramid. Suddenly, everything went black and they appeared in a jungle filled with prehistoric creatures. Seconds later, two kids ran by and saved Jake and Kady from a t-rex and brought them to a city protected from the animals and filled with long lost tribes. Jake and Kady quickly realize there is a problem in this ancient world. The Skull King is an evil person trying to take over the city. Can Jake and Kady help save the city and find out what happened to their parents?
I highly recommend “Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow” by James Rollins because it was enthralling and left me hanging for the next book in the series. I was left wondering if Jake and Kady would go back to the prehistoric world and try to find out what really happened to their parents. I recommend this book to kids ages 9-12 that like adventure stories. Personally, I plan to go out and get the second book in the series to see what happens.
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