Reviewed by Anne Boling for Readers' Favorite

Our heroine in this story is Verity, a twelve year old girl. She doesn’t like to wear shoes, preferring to give her toes room to wiggle and breathe. Around her neck is a necklace. It is a stone shaped a bit like an arrow head with a slot cut in the middle. Her father placed it around her neck the day she was born. Her mother is the costume designer for Ford's Theater. The year is 1862, Lincoln is President and the Confederacy and the Union are at war.

Verity and her friend Eddie play behind the scenes of the theater. Verity helps out by washing costumes for her mother.

Verity is in the basement of the theater when she steps on an old board and falls through. She lands on an unusual floor made out of stone that matches her necklace. That necklace grows hot and words on the wall begin moving. Before her is a sword, a gold sword that can talk.

Verity Sauveur has been chosen to be the savior of the world.

So the adventure begins. I love it. It has been a long time since a book has so captivated me. The plot is fascinating. I’m not sure if Terry Kroenung has written a tale for children that will please adults. I look forward to sharing this with my grandchildren. Jasper, the sword has the most wonderful sarcastic sense of humor. Verity is a courageous little girl filled with curiosity that usually gets her into tight spots. Kroenung has made references to many books in this story. I lost count, I was having so much fun with the text.  The author loosely based Verity on Huck Finn. This book is a parody of quest lit. I hope this is made into a movie! Ummm, on second thought, they’d ruin it. <em>Brimstone and Lily</em> is perfection. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.