Sebastian's Quest
In this inventive story 11-year-old Sebastian travels into various past times in order to restore the lost grave goods of his Stone Age ancestor. Well supported by his friends Joss and Emily, Sebastian addresses several issues pertinent to his age-group, from the difficulty of changing school, to a growing understanding of an individual's small place in the vast continuum of time. Though the more complex themes are not fully worked out, there are some thought-provoking and realistically poignant moments, particularly in the weaving in and out of past and present. I was surprised, however, even in a book where both parents are writers (even their rented holiday house boasts a study) that the new school Sebastian's worried about is a boarding school where there will be 'loads more things to do than at the comprehensive school'. Comments like this, demeaning to most of the potential readership, seem unnecessary -- though used to make a point about bravery, surely any similar situation of change would have done? My tester galloped enthusiastically through the story without commenting on this -- but in an age when an ever-wider range of children is reading, class-bound settings become less and less excusable.