Review by Booklist Review
After receiving a Newbery Honor for The Book of Boy (2018), Murdock returns to the historical fiction genre, this time mixing things up with time travel (thanks to a clever wardrobe built by Leonardo da Vinci) and an art mystery. Murdock keeps her story fresh with tight, fast-paced writing that incorporates history by bringing it engagingly to life and tying it meaningfully to the present. The piece of history in question? Rome, 1511, when 11-year-old Federico (a duke's son) is being held as a political hostage by the pope. Despite being a prisoner, Federico is relatively free to wander the papal palace, including the Sistine Chapel, where the curmudgeonly and supremely unhygienic Michelangelo is painting his famous ceiling, and the study, where Raphael created Federico's own portrait. It is, nonetheless, a lonely existence and why haughty yet likable Federico is happy to find a discarded wardrobe that produces, first, a tawny cat; second, Herbert Bother, an art buyer from New Jersey, 1928; and third, Bee, an 11-year-old girl from present-day Brooklyn, who has stumbled upon an impossible Raphael sketch of herself. Murdock gives readers plenty to puzzle over as Bee and Federico work to fulfill promises and reshape events for the better. Spot art from Zelinsky will appear in the final edition of this inspired foray into the Renaissance and beyond.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
As a political hostage of Pope Julius II, 11-year-old Federico Gonzaga is witness to the historic rivalry between artists Raphael and Michelangelo as the latter works on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Federico's pampered life is opulent but lonely, until he discovers a cat in an enigmatic closet designed by Leonardo da Vinci. The cat's mysterious movements link him to only child Bee, an intrepid 21st-century Brooklynite who discovers a drawing of herself--purportedly by Raphael--in the home of elderly neighbor Miss Bother, who's struggling to pay her bills. Using the wardrobe to travel to 16th-century Rome, Bee seeks a variation on the sketch's creation, this time with a signature, to ensure that its sale in the present day can provide for Miss Bother. Though the plot holds few surprises, Murdock (The Book of Boy) crafts an arresting blend of speculative time travel and art mystery with a sumptuously imagined Renaissance Italy setting filled with evocative sensory details. The unlikely pairing of cosseted Federico and bold Bee, both cued as white, provides comedic moments, and historical figures, such as the volatile Michelangelo and the suave Raphael, are vividly rendered. Ages 8--12. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary. (May)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5--8--Newbery Honor winner Murdoch's middle grade novel is an engaging adventure story with a lot of time traveling. Bee and Frederico are two children from different time periods--Frederico is from 16th-century Rome, while Bee lives in current-day New Jersey. They are brought together through a mysterious magical wardrobe and an adventurous time-traveling cat. Their quest is to rewrite the past to save the future, and the cat shows them the way, revealing how to use a time machine. Murdoch will captivate readers with her knowledge of medieval Europe and the city of Rome, and her vivid depictions of each character's distinct lifestyles. Readers may be surprised by the contrasts between Bee's and Frederico's perceptions of gender roles and certain cultural expectations. As a modern-day girl, Bee's appearance and behaviors intitially strike Frederico as foreign--but Frederico soon learns that girls can be just as empowered and outspoken as boys, and that it is a good thing. Character's skin tones are not described. VERDICT This time-travelling friendship book will be a hit for fans of C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Lloyd Alexander's Time Cat.--Lisa Gieskes, Richland County P.L., Columbia, SC
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Review by Horn Book Review
In an original combination of portal fantasy, historical fiction, and time travel with a hint of alt-history, this story, set in 1511, centers on (real-life historical figure) Federico II Gonzaga. When eleven-year-old Federico, confined to Rome and hostage to the pope, discovers a time-travel wardrobe constructed by Leonardo da Vinci, the fun begins. Bee, also eleven, has stepped into the wardrobe in present-day New Jersey and hurtled back in time five hundred years. The two kids meet and forge a common goal: to convince the painter Raphael to draw a portrait of Bee while also persuading Raphael's enemy Michelangelo to continue work on the Sistine Chapel. Bee's motives are to save an elderly friend back home; Federico's are bound up with survival and politics, but really he just wants a friend. It's an intricate plot, macrame-like in its action and logic, but as Bee says, "Just go with me. This is what happens in time travel." The narrative is rich in characters -- Federico, equal parts arrogance and vulnerability; sleazy Pope Julius II; grumpy and smelly Michelangelo; thoroughly modern, unflappable Bee; Juno, the charming cat of the title. The most compelling character, however, is Renaissance Rome itself -- complicated, immediate, and fully realized in sounds, smells, intrigue, squalor, brio, and opulence. Murdock is as at home in that world as she was in the Middle Ages of her Newbery Honor-winning Book of Boy (rev. 7/18). Sarah Ellis May/June 2021 p.139(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The course of time travel never does run smooth. Federico, 11, lives luxuriously in Rome, an adored hostage of the pope. He models for the painter Raphael and watches Raphael's rival, the great (but smelly!) Michelangelo, work on the Sistine Chapel. Lonely and bored, Federico discovers first a kitten, who becomes a cat after walking into a cupboard (designed by DaVinci), and then a man, who has come via the cupboard from 1920s New Jersey seeking artwork he can sell in his own time. Meanwhile, in the present day, 11-year-old Italian American Bee, whose mothers are art historians, is bored in New Jersey until she meets her neighbor Miss Bother (and that same cat), travels back in time, and meets Federico. Bee and Federico manage to colossally mess with history, leading to adventures as they try to get things back on track. Federico is the star of the show, his story filled with adventure and self-discovery, but Bee's story offers an easy anchor for modern readers. Detailed writing brings the past to life in this delightful time-slip story populated by an array of outsized figures from history. This is an appealing read that will likely leave many readers eager to learn more about the art and artists of the Renaissance. Thoroughly charming. (author's note) (Historical fantasy. 8-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
