Ravens of Solemano or The Order of the Mysterious Men in Black

Description

It has been mere days since the brilliant children of the Young Inventors Guild escaped from the clutches of the horrible Komar Romak. They have escaped with their lovely and caring schoolteacher, Miss Brett; with their long-absent parents; and with their bizarre captors, protectors, or both -- the mysterious men in black. And now they travel by train, destined for parts unknown. But a note torn from the hand of a dead man in a New York tunnel guarantees that safety is an illusion. When the children's world is blown apart, life will never be the same again. Soon, the children -- Jasper and little Lucy Modest, from London, England; Wallace Banneker, from New York, United States; Noah Canto-Sagas, from Toronto, Canada; and Faye Vigyanveta, from Delhi, India -- find themselves in the ancient Italian village of Solemano, deep in a mystery that spans centuries. As they inch toward the truth of the men in black and the secrets they keep, one terrible fact remains: Komar Romak is still out there. He is still after them, for reasons they can't even begin to imagine. And he knows exactly where they are...From the rolling plains of America to the wide-open waters of the Atlantic, through the Strait of Gibraltar to a remarkable village in the hills of Abruzzo, Italy, this is the second book of Eden Unger Bowditch's Young Inventors Guild trilogy, is an adventure like no other, as the children draw ever closer to the answers to the mysteries that surround them.

"Eden Unger Bowditch has been writing since she was very small. She has been writing since she could use her brain to think of something to say. She wrote at the University of California, Berkeley, and she wrote songs as a member of the band 'enormous'. She has written stories and plays and shopping lists and screenplays and dreams and poems--and also books about her longtime Baltimore home. She has lived in Chicago and France and other places on the planet, and has been a journalist, as well as a welder, and an editor, and other things, too. The Atomic Weight of Secrets is the first instalment of The Young Inventors Guild trilogy. The Ravens of Solemano is the second. Presently, Eden lives with her family (husband and three children) in Cairo, Egypt. But that's another story entirely ..."

This woman Eden Unger Bowditch is a keen writer. - Michael Jecks, Author Of The Acclaimed Knights Templar Mysteries Series And The Medieval Murderers Series In my fourteen years as an independent bookseller, I've come to realize we do more than just connect books and readers. We find hidden treasure. We sift through mountains of galleys and catalogs in search of books to champion. The Atomic Weight of Secrets, or The Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black by Eden Unger Bowditch (Bancroft Press, 2011) is one of the hidden treasures. When five children of famous scientists are brought together by a group of Mysterious Men in Black, they bond together as friends with the shared purpose of escaping from their captors and reuniting with their parents. But the children soon begin to wonder whether the Mysterious Men in Black might not actually be protecting them from something far more dangerous. Suspense, intrigue, and humor abound in this first installment of the Young Inventors Guild trilogy as the children create a fabulous machine, meet two iconic American inventors, confound a villain, and begin to learn about an ancient secret the Mysterious Men in Black are charged to protect. The sequel to The Atomic Weight of Secrets, The Ravens of Solemano, or The Order of the Mysterious Men in Black will be released in hardcover this September. It's a fairly well-accepted fact that the second book in a trilogy is weaker than either the first or the final volume, leaving readers unsatisfied and impatient for the final volume. Not so with this sequel. From the explosion on page 20 through to the final page, The Ravens of Solemano is full of adventure, danger, and secrets unraveled, leaving readers satisfied and eager for the final volume. -EMMA CASALE, CHILDRENS BOOKSTORE, BALTIMORE, MD My sons (who are 8 and 11) and I are happily engrossed in The Ravens of Solemano, the second novel in Eden Bowditch's The Young Inventors Guild series. We loved the first book, The Atomic Weight of Secrets, which is set in 1903; the book introduces us to a group of five curious children who've been separated from their parents. As they come to realize what they all have in common, they work to complete an invention that will reunite them with their parents and, for good measure, change the world. In last night's bedtime chapter of The Ravens of Solemano, my boys-and the kids in the book-were thrilled to meet Nikola Tesla, the real-life inventor who contributed to our understanding and use of alternating current, light bulbs, x-rays and radio. I had to resist the impulse to take the book and read ahead to discover how Tesla managed to emerge from the train explosion that has separated the children-again-from their parents. Bowditch has commented that she wanted to write a book for kids who loved the Harry Potter series but longed for less magic and more science; in this series, she definitely achieves that goal. -CAROLINE GRANT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, LITERARY MAMA (THE BLOG) In the middle volume of a planned trilogy, Bowditchs Young Inventors Guild travels to an ancient Italian village, unearthing more questions than even an international team of geniuses can answer ... The story starts fast, generating many questions: Why is villain Komar Romak still after them? Why do their diaries vanish? And are the men in strange black garb friends or foes? Despite that quick start and some engaging ideas (explosive mirages, a meeting with Nikola Tesla, an escape in a ship-turned-submarine), the book slows when the travelers reach Solemano ... The pace quickens in a suspenseful end that answers many questions but leaves others unresolved for the conclusion. -KIRKUS REVIEWS This is quite a book! I loved how the story came together in the end. I loved the introduction of the submarine and Tesla. I hope they make this one into a movie because I can't wait to see how they make the changing stairways/tunnels happen at the end-that was one of my favorite parts. I feel like I really got to know the characters so well in this book. Their personalities were so clear. I loved the room that stored history and all of the previous Young Inventors Guilds. I also love that because it's inspiring to children now-that their ideas today could be the world's treasures of the future. Can't wait to read the next book! -APRIL SUGARMAN, MOVIE PRODUCER, LOS ANGELES, CA Belongings vanish, then reappear. Mysterious coins and curious murals. Fabulous food, but no parents to share it with. This second tale in the Young Inventors Guild series takes readers far away, into an imaginatively peopled land of puzzles and parallels as the brilliant children who first met in The Atomic Weight of Secrets must work together to save themselves and the world. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com). The remote Italian village hides the five Young Inventors and their teacher well, but it also hides many secrets, perhaps even the origins of the Mysterious Men in Black who guard, guide, and confuse them! Hopefully, its ravens can hide the children from evil Komar Romak long enough for them to solve a baffling problem which endangers the world. The Ravens of Solemano surprises with clever puzzles, endearing characters (except for Romak),and links to historical figures famous and obscure. Ask for it today at your favorite local library or independent bookstore. Of course, youll enjoy these further adventures of the Young Inventors Guild even more if youve already read The Atomic Weight of Secrets (my no-spoiler recommendation here) , so check it out, too. - BOOKS YA LOVE Yes, kids can read long novels (Harry Potter, anyone?). And yes, they can enjoy tales with multiple characters. And yes, The Ravens of Solemano, or the Order of the Mysterious Men in Black is a thoroughly enjoyable, pretty long novel with lots of characters, many children, plenty of character, and the sort of premise that will have you going out to find book one in the series if youve not already read it. Im certainly searching for a copy now. Start with a group of children, all extra intelligent in the same way that Harry Potter and his friends were extra magical. Separate them from their parentswith a train ride here instead of a boarding school. Give them one person to love and trusttheir teacher, Miss Brett. Then leave them wondering whos really on their side, and surround them with threats and mystery. The result is a charming, fun, exciting novel where each child quickly comes to life, each ones weaknesses balanced by another childs skills. Jumping to conclusions proves as dodgy as youd expect it to be. And those mysterious men in black provide an intriguing mix of comic relief, threat, and promise. The story weaves through disasters and happenstance on its way to the ravens abode, and readers will switch from guessing meanings to identifying with feelings, then back to calculating explanations again. Theres a pleasing sense of steampunk in the wholly rational approach to the irrational. Genuine knowledge and intelligence smile from the page, with history and science woven seamlessly into the fabric of the tale. Plus there are shocks and scares aplenty. Yes, I will buy book one. And yes, I will eagerly await book three. This novel surprised me the same way the first Harry Potter novel did. Catching Fire for kids perhaps. Harry Potter for scientists and historians. Or just plain good old-fashioned, wholly up-to-date reading ... with two titles because there's an uncertain duality to everything, isn't there? -SHEILA DEETH, MATHEMATICIAN AND PUBLISHED AUTHOR (EIGHT BOOKS), WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OR This book reminded me of a cross between The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, A Wrinkle in Time, and Harry Potter books all thrown into one big pot ... Its appropriate for middle school to high school students to read on their own ... I could see parents reading this book along with their children and having interesting discussions. For example, Nicola Tesla appears, and this becomes a great opportunity for a science lesson. Wouldnt it be great if we were a child and met him in person?! For those who like a good mystery with fascinating characters, this book is for them. -SUCCESSFUL TEACHING Readers will enjoy this historical-steampunk-sci-fi-mystery. -VOYA