Ring of Fire

September 7, 2009
In this first book in the Century Quartet, Baccalario offers an uneven tale of four children discovering their crucial roles in an event of global proportions. When 12-year-old Elettra's father mixes up the reservations at her family's hotel in Rome, she is forced to share her room with Harvey, Sheng and Mistral (visiting from America, China and France, respectively), who all share the same birthday. After they inadvertently cause a blackout across Rome, the new friends head out into the city, where an encounter with a doomed old man lands them a briefcase full of clues, hints about their shared destiny and the attention of Mahler, a ruthless killer armed with a magical violin. As the children crisscross Rome to unravel the puzzle, they are fed information about the secret history of the world and the momentous events that they have been chosen to be part of. The children feel underdeveloped and have basically been reduced to the role of pawns of fate and of the adults who are manipulating them, but there are some genuinely exciting moments and the premise is intriguing. Ages 10–13.

November 1, 2009
Gr 5-9-Once in every century, four children are called upon to save the world. When two boys and two girls, all 12 years old, and all born on February 29th, meet at the same hotel in Rome, what seems to be an unlikely coincidence soon takes on a more sinister aspect. A terrified man gives them a mysterious briefcase and is found brutally murdered the next morning. Ominous strangers trail them through the streets in an attempt to retrieve the map and notes hidden in the briefcase, and the children begin to manifest paranormal abilities. The suspenseful plot and action-packed pages are somewhat marred by a jumbled excess of characters and convoluted storytelling, and readers may want to invest in a map of Rome and a dictionary, but sophisticated readers who make it to the climactic ending will be clamoring for the next books in the series. A colored inset of maps, notes, and pictures is included."Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2009
Grades 5-8 Four kids (all with February 29 birthdays) who find themselves in Rome are thrust into a once-in-a-century fight against evil in this first title in a new series, adeptly translated from the Italian. Elettras family owns the overbooked hotel that brings the group together. She plays with mirrors and light, and each of the other kidsNew Yorker Harvey, Parisian Mistral, and Sheng from Shanghai has other quirks. A mysterious briefcase entrusted to their care sets in motion a few days of sleuthing, kidnapping, puzzle solving, and wild adventure. On their trail is a vile professional killer named Jacob Mahler. The adult secondary characters are originals, but the initially stereotyped children (the Chinese boy with his hair cut with a bowl) begin to emerge as individuals as the story progresses. With allusions to Nero and the burning of Rome in this installment, it would make sense for future titles to continue on to the childrens other hometowns and feature the remaining elements of water, wind, and earth. A color insert filled with maps, photos, and graphic details adds a nice touch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2010
As a new century approaches, circumstance brings a mysterious briefcase into the possession of Harvey, Mistral, Sheng, and Elettra. After its owner is murdered, the four learn they are this century's guardians of the map inside. Though there's not a lot of depth or character development and the present-tense narration is clunky, the story's layers of secrets and cliffhangers create a page-turner.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)