New Books In Literature

Daniel Renfrew is a typical American sixteen-year-old. His main gripe when the story opens is that his dad insists on home schooling even though Daniel would much prefer attending the local high school with his friends. When we meet him, Daniel is at the local shopping mall, where a local cop is hassling him as a potential truant. After side-stepping that threat, Daniel returns home to find his dad under assault from a sword-carrying stranger. Dad tosses Daniel a strange device and orders him to say “the bedtime rhyme.” Against his better judgment, Daniel complies. Next thing he knows, he’s in a pine forest he doesn’t recognize and has no idea what to do next. He screams for assistance, which brings out a very grumpy helper who self-identifies as Sam. Only then does Daniel learn that he comes from a family of time-jumpers, and he’s landed in 1066. He’s stuck in the past, not knowing whether his dad is dead or alive. And although his eccentric education has included all kinds of “weird” skills like sword play