CROW BOY: 1 (The Crow Boy Trilogy) - Tapa blanda

Philip Caveney is a gifted and experienced writer, and he does not simply present the reader with a straightforward time slip novel. Tom moves from time to time, and even in and out of parallel universes, and on each occasion the same characters appear, sometimes as major players in his life, sometimes lurking in the background. They have different jobs and homes, and they even appear at different times in their lives, leaving Tom confused and scared. But he keeps returning to Mary King's Close in 1645, where life is cheap and medical treatments are sometimes more painful and grisly than the illnesses themselves. Through Tom's eyes we see a gruesomely vivid picture of life at the time, and with him we shudder at the poverty, deprivation and filth which were the rich breeding ground for disease. The book is both intriguing and thrilling. Tom is first made to earn his keep by feeding the pigs, he is treated less kindly than an animal by the sinister doctor, and at one moment he even has to flee for his life across the rooftops, but there is still time for kindness, loyalty and friendship. Tom even begins to learn a little compassion for the people who commit crimes simply because they would otherwise starve. It is a rich, satisfying book, with lots of layers and plenty to think and talk about, and it deserves to be as popular with readers as Mr Caveney's other excellent books. --http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Crow_Boy_by_Philip_Caveney

Young Tom Afflick has never felt so alone. His parents have split up and his mother has relocated him, hundreds of miles away from his home in Manchester to the unfamiliar city of Edinburgh. At his new school, Tom is simply known as 'The Manc' - a blow-in, an outsider. On a routine school trip to the historic site of Mary King's Close, Tom follows the ghostly figure of a young girl - only to find himself transported back in time to 1645, the year of the Edinburgh plague. Apprenticed against his will to a violent plague doctor, Tom needs to use all of his modern-day skills in order to survive, while he desperately searches for a way back to his own time. This children's historical novel is a departure for Philip Caveney - acclaimed author of the Sebastian Darke thrillers for children and the Alec Devlin mysteries - and is sure to be a hit with them.