The Time Museum, Volume 2

June 1, 2019
Grades 4-7 Delia and her time traveling team are back and ready for more adventures into the past. Jumping off right where they ended in the previous installment, the team must now go to 1778 Versailles to protect the alliance between the U.S. and France. But things get out of hand quickly, and the team finds help from an unlikely, but very familiar source?their future selves! Any plot containing time paradoxes can get muddled and confusing quickly, but Loux keeps the pacing is so fast that the audience will easily be swept up in the ride. The budding romances between several of the team members makes for extra drama and ensures that this title has something for everyone. Those new to the series, however, will most likely need to start at the beginning, as backstories and intercharacter relationships are often referenced. Loux's fun, energetic cartoon style, complete with oblong characters and sharp outlining, contributes to the buoyant adventure atmosphere. An easy pick for time-travel fans or kids who love fast-paced adventure comics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2019
A mission back to 18th-century France traps Delia Bean and her Epoch Squad in a time loop from which they have to be rescued by their later selves. Hidden agendas and wheels within wheels begin to emerge in this follow-up to the 2017 opener as the newly fledged squad is trained by genial time traveler Richard Nixon ("They always guess JFK!" he booms) in various seemingly random skills that turn out to be oddly useful later on. They are then sent to a ball in 1778, where their mysterious nemesis, the Grey Earl, first traps them, then secretly allows them to escape as part of some larger scheme. Meanwhile, nascent romances bloom and wilt, troubling revelations about the Time Museum's origins come to light, and the squad shows its mettle in first battling a plant monster and later an outsized armored warrior. Though his panels tend to be small and tightly packed, Loux shows rare talent for depicting thrillingly dangerous-looking adversaries and cranking up both action and comedy with close-ups of wide-eyed, wide-mouthed faces. Nixon, who often looks more like Bob Hope (and behaves more like Robin Williams), is a scene stealer, but Delia and her team are lively enough to keep the plot moving along briskly. Except for new addition Pauline, a dark-skinned British rock guitarist with a thing for Delia, diversity markers are present but barely visible in the cast. More excitement in the time stream--but always with time to party in between. (Graphic science fiction. 10-13)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.