Copyright Date:
2020
Edition Date:
2021
Release Date:
05/05/20
Pages:
286 pages
ISBN:
1-7727-8110-X
ISBN 13:
978-1-7727-8110-6
Dewey:
Fic
Dimensions:
21 cm.
Language:
English
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews
Could a mirror create a supernatural and dangerous connection to ancient Egypt?When 13-year-old Simon first enters Mr. Hawkins' house he's astonished by the collection of mirrors. According to Mr. Hawkins, ancient superstition said that people were born with doubles and that mirrors functioned as magical soul catchers. Simon might not have believed any of this if he had not himself seen visions in the reflections of one particular mirror. The arrival of a mysterious letter precipitates an avalanche of events causing Simon to wonder if the mirror is the cause of his undiagnosable illness as well as the sudden appearances of a menacing dog and a mystifying woman. Can Simon and his new friend, Abbey, unravel the secrets of the mirror before it's too late? Bedard's fourth stand-alone novel set in the town of Caledon again focuses on a good-versus-evil plot structured around supernatural events. The place and setting are strongly developed as each clue quietly builds to a suspenseful climax, and the slow pace contributes to an old-fashioned feel. The technology in Simon's world points to a 1980s setting: Computers, ultrasounds, TVs, and landline phones exist but not the internet or cellphones. Descriptions of the exploits of early archaeologists in Egypt are presented in a romanticized fashion without any discussion of the ethics of the removal of artifacts to the West. Minimal physical descriptors indicate a White default.A quiet story for patient readers. (Mystery. 9-13)
A darkly fantastic middle-grade mystery with the ominous atmosphere loved by fans of Jonathan Auxier and Jonathan Stroud Thirteen-year-old Simon's life has been knocked askew ever since his family moved into his deceased grandfather's house. First there's his eccentric neighbor Mr. Hawkins, who is laid up with a broken leg. Simon's mother begins sending him over there with dinner for the elderly man, and soon Mr. Hawkins is depending on Simon to fetch old books and manuscript pages from all over his eerie, mirror-filled house. There's one mirror in particular, an ancient Egyptian piece, that keeps showing Simon visions of a disturbing figure emerging from its depths. No one else sees the figure, though--just like they don't see the huge, gaunt dog lurking in Mr. Hawkins' bushes. As Simon himself becomes increasingly plagued by a mysterious illness, he is powerless to help as his neighbor descends into paranoia about dark forces encircling his house. The terrible part is, Mr. Hawkins is right. Everything is about to get much, much worse. With an eerie atmosphere perfect for fans of Jonathan Auxier and Jonathan Stroud, The Egyptian Mirror is a deliciously unsettling mystery from Michael Bedard, the author of The Green Man , A Darker Magic , and the Governor General's Award-winning Redwork . -- "Publisher"