Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite

A scientist Ethan Cheesman has recently lost his wife. With his three children, he decides to go back in time and meet up with his deceased wife to save her. His means of transportation is a self-designed time machine. In addition to his own children, his passengers include a circus array of characters, all of whom belong in the 1600's. Their mission is to go back to their own century so as to return the White Gold Chalice to its rightful owner, thus ending centuries of back luck for anyone in possession of the chalice.

This book is absolutely charming and a great read for middle school children. Both girls and boys will identify with the adventuresome characteristics of the children, and they will cheer on their brilliant father in his quest to rediscover their mother. The adventure is not without its own mishaps, one of them being that, with their time machine, they can only go back in time and they have no known means of returning to the future. In addition, Mr. Cheeseman's old science professor is an unwitting partner in attempting to do away with the Cheeseman family by the escaped prisoner who killed Mrs. Cheeseman.

There are plenty of subplots in this book to hold the interest of the most critical reader. In addition, the author presents periodic words of wisdom, which will leave readers smiling and agreeing that if anything can go wrong with a plan - it will!

This is a real thumbs-up book from an author with a wit and a genuine sense of humor which will attract and hold the child reader to the last page.