A Chance Child

I was very glad to get this nice old library bound book. I love used books!

This book is what led me to become interested in the Victorian period. You can't put it down. Younger children will be put off by the unfamiliar English, but older children who have a little more historical background and patience with language will like it. I think this is a brilliant depiction of the horrors of the Industrial Revolution, where child labour was so brutal and so prevalent. Stylistically, it's lyrical and has what we don't often see: the "kind of" happy ending. It really makes you think about our own society and where we have come from. Books like these are important because children can feel a link to kids in the past, and therefore come to a better understanding of the past. Yes, it's gruesome (children get beaten and disfigured), but that's historical truth for you. This is the perfect antidote for the books (and teachers) that insist on never rocking the boat. A thoughtful child of about 11-14 will enjoy this book.

Creep's time travelling adventures may be too harrowing for younger readers; in the past he is subjected to apalling child labor (slavery) and physical abuse. However, this is an important subject for older kids. The book is intriguing and suspenseful, and will keep you reading so you will learn some general history in a uniquely concrete, real way. I couldn't put the book down; but I felt the end did not explain everything to my satisfaction, the novel's only drawback.