Praise for Nick of Time:A Different Harry Potter! Ordered this book as a graduation gift for an 8th grade boy. Decided to read it first just to make sure. Very enjoyable fantasy. Just as wonderful as Harry Potter but a different time and place - and a little reality actually mixed in. Looking forward to reading the next in the series. — Amazon Reader This is the best book in the history of the world. I will read it again and again until I can no longer read anymore. In the very first chapter, young Nick McIver alomst dies. Nick's character is 100% perfect, and you feel as if you could be his best friend or sibling. Some people call this a "boy's book". But this is also a great girl book, too, because I'm sick of reading books about people who are cowards and whining. This book is a true page turner, and I could never put it down. I'm always rereading my favorite part. It's always when Nick finds a German U-Boat or when he's in 1804, high in the sling, faithfully comanding orders to the bustling crew below. Everyone in the whole entire world should read this story! —Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Award 2009 “Nick of Time is an American classic.” —Glenn Beck “Nick of Time takes young readers on a thrilling historical voyage… definitely not for the faint of heart.” “Wow! Some books sweep you away. Nick of Time amazed me, dazzled me, and swept my imagination off to sea…. I’ve been craving an adventure story with a good mystery, and this arrived in the ‘nick of time’ to rescue me.” “A blast—the best of Robert Louis Stevenson, Horatio Hornblower, and Harry Potter. The kid in me loved it, and so did the adult.” “A brilliant adventure, hidden within a rolling saga, tucked inside an intriguing mystery. That’s Nick of Time. Ted Bell proves that he’s the master of swashbuckling for both young and old.” "In the book Nick of Time, Ted Bell captures the reader’s attention early on with an excellent command of the English language and a writing style that leaves little to be desired. His correct usage of proper boating terminology throughout the book, especially in the first few chapters, helps to make the book very realistic. I also enjoyed how in the second half of the book, there was extreme excitement taking place in each era, so even when you switched time periods, it was almost impossible to put the book down… The book Nick of Time contains nearly everything a boy this age would want to read about and presents it in a form which makes for a great read that can be appreciated by children, teens, and adults. It was one of the better books of its genre I have read recently, and I am anxiously awaiting Ted Bell’s second novel." —Brian, 14 "Wow! Some books sweep you away. Ted Bell's Nick of Time amazed me, dazzled me, and swept my imagination off to sea. The interweaving of pirate adventures at sea with the threat of German U-boats pre-WWII was accomplished so skillfully that I yearned to join them traveling through time. Ted Bell's descriptions were so vivid, I could picture every scene in full-color. With the exciting action scenes, I ignored the outside world to focus on this incredible tale. The history was so enticing, I found myself pouring through WWII texts on England's preparations for war, Churchill's struggles, and maps of the islands. I wanted to experience sailing and its dangers as Nick was able to do. Curse my landlocked childhood! I curled up with this book last weekend while battling the flu, but even the flu couldn't keep me away from the pages of this story. I was compelled to keep reading until past midnight. The last line of the story gave me hope for many more sequels. Please, Mr. Bell, may I have some more? I know you have written books for adults, but this title was truly amazing and I want to experience it again. Someone will be snatching up the rights to make this into a film soon! Give us hope that the sequel is on it's way. The message of heroism in Nick of Time has clung to me this week. I keep reviewing scenes and conversations from the story. Who are my heroes? What if I could travel through time to meet them? Would I have anything to offer them? Are there small roles in history that we could play that would impact others? How many of us could act as well as seven-year old Kate? Also, what has become of the villain Billy Blood? Where will he strike next? Middle school students are going to be so hooked by this book. Perhaps I should change to being a MS librarian just so I can help boys in particular find this book. Don't worry girls, you'll love this as much as I did and there is plenty to ponder after you're finished reading. Just don't think you can read only one chapter before breakfast. I tried and glanced up 80 pages later to wonder what had happened and where I'd been. I've been craving an adventure story with a good mystery and this arrived in the nick of time to rescue me. Nick of Time will be released in May, 2008, but I can send out some Advanced Reading Copies now to the first ten people to email me. Let's hope it's you because everyone wants to be one of the first to read the next great book for kids. " —Diane Chen, School Library Journal Review 'Nick of Time' takes young readers on a thrilling historical voyage What is it about seafaring stories that thrills the most confirmed landlubber? People who devoured Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series can rejoice this summer at the possibility of sharing the passion for the British Royal Navy with their offspring. In his first novel for children, "Nick of Time" (St. Martin's Griffin: 448 pp., $17.95, ages 9-12), Ted Bell, author of the bestselling Alex Hawke books, tells a time-travel story in which Nicholas McIver, an intrepid 12-year-old sailor and son of a lighthouse keeper in the English Channel Islands, helps Hawke rescue his young children from the clutches of an evil pirate. The chase takes them from Nazi-infested waters on the eve of World War II to the sea battles of Lord Nelson's time, through the magic of a time machine handed down from Leonardo da Vinci. If it's surprising that children who have never set foot on a boat will tolerate lengthy discussion of how much water a boat will draw and how much sail should be reefed to pass over a tricky spot, remember that one of the pleasures of reading is to learn specialized vocabulary having little relation to our daily life. We are accustomed to it from an early age; think of all the books we read to our children that taught them the sounds of barnyard animals. How many of our kids ever come into contact with cows, sheep, horses? But they all know what the pig says. So why not let "mizzenmast halyards" roll trippingly off the tongue? This is the first historical novel my 10-year-old son has taken to, and it's in large part thanks to the reading of John Shea ("Nick of Time," audio version, Macmillan Young Listeners, 10 CDs, $29.95), whose rich voice gives a sense of grand adventure while maintaining the proper square-jawed demeanor for the British gentleman-in-training, young Nick McIver. There is an undeniable attraction for boys to the figure of the heroic Englishman (though Nick's spunky younger sister will seem to girls the true hero of the novel), and Nick's mantra in times of stress -- "Nelson the strong, Nelson the brave, Nelson, the lord of the sea" -- gets him through the most grueling of moments, when a boy might otherwise give up. The descriptions of the sea battles here are definitely not for the faint of heart. In the middle of the book, my son leaned back thoughtfully and said, "I'm beginning to get the idea that the French and the English don't like each other very much." What better way to grasp one of the essentials of European history? —Sonja Bolle , June 29, 2008 Los Angeles Times
Praise for The Time Pirate:In the tradition of Tom Swift and The Hardy Boys this book is a rollicking good time for the young reader and those of us young in heart. Nick McIver is a young man with a time machine. In this adventure he faces historic events in American history, pirates and Nazis. Ted Bell does an excellent job of recreating the feel of the grand adventures I read as a boy. Nick McIver is pure of heart and free of malice. He attacks life with gusto and with the characteristic disregard for fear illustrated so well by Tom Swift. The character shows decision making and wisdom far beyond his chronological age. He thrusts himself into situations adults would fear to approach. He incites loyalty in adults who indulge his adventurous nature and who give him full rein to jump into exceedingly dangerous situations. So much of the book is totally outrageous in that any adult that knowingly allowed a young teen to do what Nick does in this book would be committed, arrested or pilloried for their behavior. This is probably what will make the book enormously successful for the young reader. I heartily recommend it. —Pick Of The Literate, http://bookrevues.blogspot.com “The breakneck pacing and wild plot will keep readers hanging on to the end.” "The Time Pirate is sure to please almost everyone, especially the guys. Ted Bell writes with a very classic style, right up there with Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain. His adventurous imagination pulls readers into this spirited and deep, multilayered story... Fans will love this outstanding sequel to Nick of Time." “Swashbuckling action sequences and scenes of derring-do abound.” Pirates And Nazis And George Washington - Oh My! 5 Stars Although it is marketed to grades 5 through 8, THE TIME PIRATE is really for the adventurer in all of us. I wish I had had something like this when I was learning history; history might have "stuck" with me better. I definitely would have enjoyed it more. And I did some checking: while the story is fictional, the facts are not. THE TIME PIRATE is rich in details and history of the both wars- the American Revolution and WWII. IMHO, THE TIME PIRATE does what most sequels fail to do; it not only equals the first book in the series, it surpasses it. THE TIME PIRATE is a grand mash up of the best of Horatio Hornblower and Harry Potter. I hope Ted Bell plans many more books. —Karen, Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer "The time-warp tale is fast-paced, with enough twists and turns to have readers unable to put the book down as they try to figure out what happens next." "Ted Bell's Nick of Time was an exciting romp through time and history that also examined what it takes to be a hero. ... The Time Pirate is another great read in an exciting series - don't miss it." |
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