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Wormwood
G.P. Taylor G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2004 |
Fourteen-year-old Agetta Lamian is daughter of Cadmus Lamian and she works for Dr. Sabian Blake. Dr. Blake is a scientist who managed to get the Nemorensis into his possession. This book has the answer to every question and every secret. It also tells of a comet that will strike London in less than a month. Dr. Blake uses his telescope and calculates the day it will first come into the telescope's view. When that night comes, all time stops and everything goes pitch black; no moon, no stars, no candles, nothing. Then, the sun and moon continue to fly across the sky so that several days passed in only a few minutes. After the madness was thought to be over, it ended up being morning instead of night. What they weren't expecting, was all the horses go mad and stampede together trampling everything in sight with every type of dog running after them. The dogs killed every human who was not in doors, safe from the insanity. Blake hears the yelling voice and pounding on the door from his friend, Isaac Bonham, because he was in the way of several large dogs that were running towards him. After Blake finally opened the door to Bonham and ushered him in, he told him everything about what just happened. They agreed that they would tell the newspaper when the comet, named Wormwood, drew closer, but they would tell the paper that it would just pass on by leaving a brilliant spectacle. What they didn't know, was that Agetta heard every word and that she would have a part in it whether she wanted to or not.
When Agetta left Dr. Blake's one night, she was on her way to meet someone who she was told would be waiting for her. She wasn't expecting anything big, but the lady she met, Yerzinia had bigger plans. She convinced Agetta that they would be great friends and that they would spend the rest of their lives as friends. Yerzinia left a thumbprint on Agetta's right hand which turned into a terrible burn and ended up looking like an eye as Agetta tried to cool it with water. She didn't know that she was now permanently bound to this masked lady, whether she liked it or not and her fate rested in the palm of Yerzinia's hand. Together, Dr. Blake and Agetta were about to embark on the most dangerous quest of their life, but if they failed, all civilization would come to an end.
I was stuck in this novel! I absolutely loved it! In a way it was suspenseful which made it even better! I would highly recommend this book for grades 7-12. It's an excellent read and anyone who loves science and astronomy would love it. Even if science isn't one of your favorite subjects, you'll learn to enjoy it a little more because I never really liked astronomy, but now it's a little more interesting.
~ Kayla Aldan, 9th grade, Boardman High School in Youngstown, OH