Gerald Hausman
Macmillan Caribbean (2009)
ISBN 9781405098984
Reviewed by Sam Hartman (age 9) for Reader Views (7/09)
“Time Swimmer” by Gerald Hausman is a book from his “Island Fiction” series. All the books in this series are about kids who have adventures in the CaribbeanIslands. “Time Swimmer” is about a young Jamaican boy, Luke, who was having a few problems because he failed an important exam. All his luck changed when he saved a magical sea turtle, Odysseus, from two fishermen. Imagine his surprise when he hears the turtle’s voice in his head as they ride out to sea!
As Luke rides the turtle, he puts his hand on one of the plates on the turtle’s back. He sees a picture of a disaster that happened in the past and suddenly they are swimming through time and end up there. The team of two travels from place to place, time to time, saving one person from each disaster. For one, in the explosion of Mount Pelee, 28,001 people were supposed to die. Luke saves Cyparis from certain death by hiding with him under a bed to protect them from falling ashes. In the end, only 28,000 people died, since they saved Cyparis. Why do you think they have to save one person from every place in time? Read the book to find out!
I think this book is a new kind of genre that I would call historical fantasy. It combines historical events and disasters that really happened with fantasy things like Greek Gods and a talking turtle. I recommend this book for people who like adventure books, animal books and Greek Mythology. This book should be read by 10-12-year-olds since it helps to understand a bit of Greek for this book to make sense.
I personally recommend “Time Swimmer” by Gerald Hausman and hope you read it and like it as much as I did.
No responses yet