A New York Times Best Seller
An Indiebound Best Seller
A Kids' Next Top Ten Book
A Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices SelectionA Junior Library Guild Selection
One of Publishers Weekly's Best Summer Reads
"Not since Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass have I seen such an original and compelling world built inside a book."-Megan Whalen Turner, New York Times best-selling author of A Conspiracy of Kings
She has only seen the world through maps. She had no idea they were so dangerous.
Boston, 1891. Sophia Tims comes from a family of explorers and cartologers who, for generations, have been traveling and mapping the New World-a world changed by the Great Disruption of 1799, when all the continents were flung into different time periods. Eight years ago, her parents left her with her uncle Shadrack, the foremost cartologer in Boston, and went on an urgent mission. They never returned. Life with her brilliant, absent-minded, adored uncle has taught Sophia to take care of herself.
Then Shadrack is kidnapped. And Sophia, who has rarely been outside of Boston, is the only one who can search for him. Together with Theo, a refugee from the West, she travels over rough terrain and uncharted ocean, encounters pirates and traders, and relies on a combination of Shadrack's maps, common sense, and her own slantwise powers of observation. But even as Sophia and Theo try to save Shadrack's life, they are in danger of losing their own.
The Glass Sentence plunges readers into a time and place they will not want to leave, and introduces them to a heroine and hero they will take to their hearts. It is a remarkable debut.
"I think The Glass Sentence is absolutely marvelous. It's the best book I've read in a long time. The world-building is so convincing, the plot so fast-moving and often surprising, and the ideas behind the novel so completely original. I love this book."-Nancy Farmer, National Book Award-winning author of The House of the Scorpion
"I loved it! So imaginative!"-Nancy Pearl
"An exuberantly imagined cascade of unexplored worlds, inscribed in prose and detail as exquisite as the ... maps young Sophia uses to navigate such unpredictable landscapes. A book like a pirate's treasure hoard for map lovers like me."-Elizabeth Wein, New York Times best-selling author of Code Name Verity
"Brilliant in concept, breathtaking in scale and stellar in its worldbuilding; this is a world never before seen in fiction . . . Wholly original and marvelous beyond compare."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"A thrilling, time-bending debut . . . It's a cracking adventure, and Grove bolsters the action with commentary on xenophobia and government for hire, as well as a fascinating system of map magic."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
One day, the world...shifted. While it had the same basic boundaries, many of the countries - and even the the states and towns within the countries - were of different times. One might be an ice age, another might be the 1500's. Heading west from Kentucky meant exploring not only a new era, but also the people within that era. This shift became known as the Great Disruption. And after it was done, and the world had become so radically different, mapmakers became artists - showing the new world through a mix of science, exploration and magic.
Sophia lives in this world with her uncle, a master mapmaker. She has lost her parents - they were explorers and never returned from an expedition. When Sophia's uncle disappears, and her world gets turned upside down down once again, she ventures out to find a way to rescue him.
This story is fantastic. The world-building within is exceptional, and very unique. The details about each world are woven so solidly into the story that it's like riding a magic carpet - you can see and feel what it might be like to actually be there. The characters are also extremely well fleshed-out. Each has strengths and flaws, even those who may appear supernatural. The ultimate compliment I could give - they felt truly human, as though they might really exist somewhere.
Of course, all this world and character building does come at a slight cost for some readers - the book has a bit of a slow start. For many, this is not an issue, but for those who want immediate action, it may be enough to keep them from continuing. However, I would highly recommend sticking with it - this promises to be an amazing series if this first novel is anything to go by, and the action does pick up a little further into it. If you give it the time, you *will* be rewarded.
This is easily one of the best books I have read this year, and one of the best middle-grade fantasy books I have read period.
