Danger in the Darkest Hour

November 1, 2014
Jack and Annie go to Normandy on June 4, 1944.In this "super edition" of her phenomenally successful Magic Tree House books, Osborne takes Jack, Annie and readers on their longest adventure yet. Summoned by enchanter-in-training Teddy via carrier pigeon to Glastonbury on the eve of the D-Day invasion, Jack and Annie are then airlifted behind enemy lines in France to retrieve Teddy's colleague Kathleen, who has gone missing there. Once in France, Jack and Annie deploy their respective skills to make their way through a countryside peopled with Resistance members and collaborators-only it's not so easy to tell the difference. It's an ambitious undertaking, plunging elementary-age readers into a complex conflict they likely know little about, but Osborne trusts her audience to navigate the rough historical waters along with her protagonists. Of necessity, some details are oversimplified, particularly the reason the Nazis are dangerous to the group of Jewish orphans Kathleen is protecting-but by introducing the Holocaust with Jack and Annie's own developmentally appropriate incomprehension, Osborne establishes a clear-cut good-vs.-evil paradigm her readers can easily understand. Also developmentally appropriate is the magus ex machina deliverance that sees all players safely situated by the end of the book. Several pages of nonfiction backmatter will provide background and context for readers whose interests are piqued. It appears there is nowhere Osborne's Magic Tree House cannot take readers, as this successful foray suggests. (Adventure. 7-10)

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November 1, 2014
Grades 2-4 Jack and Annie are back in the first Magic Tree House Super Edition series title. In this double-sized adventure, our time-traveling siblings are summoned by Teddy to Glastonbury, England, on June 4, 1944. Their mission is to locate Kathleen, who has gone missing behind enemy lines in Vichy France, and give her the magic items she requested via a coded note. The two jump from a plane piloted by Teddy, realizing at the last minute that they do not have the magic items for Kathleen. Undeterred, they make their way through the countryside, becoming personally acquainted with the history they know only vaguely: Nazis, the French Resistance movement, D-Day, and what it meant for everyone living through history's darkest hour. Full-page black-and-white illustrations complement this thrilling rescue story. The longer format lends itself to the complex subject matter, and the cheer and humor with which Jack and Annie face obstacles, along with their thoughtful contemplation of what they have learned, prevent the story from being too scary for its audience. Fans of the series will be delighted. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The Magic Tree House is an institution, and national appearances by Jack and Annie characters, retail event kits, and even a sweepstakes prove that the magic is alive and well.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
Jack and Annie travel back to 1944 to rescue their friend Kathleen in the French countryside. The siblings find their courage and quick wits are critical when magic isn't available. The text, which is geared toward middle graders, borders on lecture toward the end, but like the chapter books for younger kids, this is a creative mending of magic and history. Detailed back matter provides more information.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)