The Lightning Key: The Wednesday Tales No. 3

Grade 4-7–The final volume of the series hits the ground running as Miles Wednesday is robbed of the rare and powerful Tiger’s Egg by the Great Cortado and his buffoonish sidekick. Accompanied by his friend Little and the blind explorer Baltinglass of Araby, Miles races the villains to the home of Nura, his mother’s twin sister, who may know the secret of unlocking the Egg’s power. The rousing pursuit sends the 12-year-old sailing on fantastic airships, trekking across desert sands, and even into the Realm of Angels, where he must defend himself against the Sleep Angels and the death sentence they have passed on him. The various plot threads and colorful characters from The Palace of Laughter (2006) and The Tiger’s Egg (2007, both HarperCollins) are pulled together for a grand, albeit chaotic, finish. The final chapters are especially hectic, as Berkeley races to make sure all the loose ends are tied up. The journey there is a fine one, however, filled with the evocative description and engrossing narrative style that have typified the series, and the conclusion is on the whole satisfying.–Christi Esterle, Parker Library, CO

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By Jon Berkeley.

Illustrated by Brandon Dorman.