Series
Genres
Publication
Puffin (2015)
Description
In 1665 London, fourteen-year-old Christopher Rowe, apprentice to an apothecary, and his best friend, Tom, try to uncover the truth behind a mysterious cult, following a trail of puzzles, codes, pranks, and danger toward an unearthly secret with the power to tear the world apart.
Awards
Massachusetts Children's Book Award (Nominee — 2018)
Edgar Award (Nominee — Juvenile — 2016)
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (Nominee — 2020)
Great Stone Face Book Award (Nominee — 2017)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Children's Fiction — 2017)
Sasquatch Book Award (Nominee — 2018)
Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 2018)
Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee — 2017)
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Nominee — 2019)
Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award (Shortlist — 2016)
Silver Birch Fiction Award (Nominee — Fiction — 2017)
John Spray Mystery Award (Winner — 2016)
CYBILS Awards (Winner — 2015)
Red Cedar Book Award (Winner — Fiction — 2017)
E.B. White Read-Aloud Award (Honor Book — 2016)
IODE Violet Downey Book Award (Winner — 2016)
Rocky Mountain Book Award (Nominee — 2017)
Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award (Honor Book — 2017)
Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Book (Junior — 2016)
Notable Children's Book (Middle Readers — 2016)
Tome Society It List (2017)
Idaho Battle of the Books (2019)
Texas Lone Star Reading List (2017)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Kids (Fiction for Older Readers — 2015)
Lexile
630L
Original language
English
Original publication date
2015
Media reviews
Publisher's Weekly
First-time novelist Sands has written an exciting and self-assured tale of alchemy and dark secrets set during the late-17th-century reign of King Charles II. Fourteen-year-old orphan Christopher Rowe is lucky to be apprenticed to a kindly apothecary, Master Benedict Blackthorn. But someone—the
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Cult of the Archangel, it is rumored—is murdering London’s apothecaries, believing that members of the Apothecary’s Guild are concealing a dangerous secret. Christopher is an easygoing boy, fond of pranks and experiments (the book opens with his ill-advised and ill-fated attempt at mixing up some gunpowder), but after Master Benedict is assaulted, he finds himself on the run, pursued by the murderous henchmen of a rival apothecary and the dangerous Lord Richard Ashcombe, His Majesty’s Warden. Sands adeptly balances the novel’s darker turns with moments of levity and humor, and fills the book with nicely detailed characters and historical background—plus lots of explosions. It’s a story that should have broad appeal, while especially intriguing readers with an existing interest in chemistry, history, and decoding puzzles. Ages 10–14. Show Less
Physical description
5.08 inches
ISBN
014136064X / 9780141360645