If you could travel to any time and place in history, which would you choose, and why?
In Sol Invictus, Ben Gartner sends his protagonists, 10-year-old John and 13-year-old Sarah, back to ancient Rome during the reign of Constantius. Their mission is to unite the emperor with Crocus, an Alemanni determined to avenge his father’s murder, and beware a man called Alex. Drawing inspiration from history and taking advantage of gaps to take creative excursions, this middle grade novel’s high action and adventure plot makes a fun entry point into ancient history. John and Sarah fight against wild animals with venatores in the Colosseum, travel with Alemanni warriors, and battle the elements and Roman centurions to achieve their mission and return home.
Gartner also weaves into events the challenges of sibling relationships, from two perspectives: the younger sibling who feels left behind and the older sibling who feels guilty about moving on. John and Sarah’s inner monologues put into words feelings and experiences that young readers may be going through but not know how to verbalize. Gartner also makes clever connections between modern and ancient skills that provide opportunities for contemporary readers to relate to past events even when they seem most alien.
This middle grade novel, the follow-up to Gartner’s The Eye of Ra, was a pleasure to read. Engaging and sensitively written, it would make a great addition to late elementary and middle school classrooms. It releases on Feb. 2. Many thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.
This is a book I would have loved as a middle schooler! Time travel, and Ancient Rome! But at that time I would have been too interested in riding my bike to read very much. Two books that did make a huge impression on me though were My Side of the Mountain (which today I could call My Side of the Marina), and my beloved Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, which somehow discovered in me the need to build a spaceship in my garage fantasy that’s never left me.
Isn’t it amazing how the books we read and love as kids can have such a long lasting impact? I fell in love with time travel, as a concept, from reading a book called Time at the Top when I was in grade school. It’s still my favorite set up in novels!
Thank you for this immensely flattering review and 5-star rating, Eirini!
It truly was a pleasure to read, both for the adventure and the sensitivity to children’s inner lives. It’s wonderful!
This seems like a delightful read! I love time travel stories for young audiences because it can really put them into the time period and make it so much more interesting than what they might be learning at school. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and spreading the word about this book, which will go on my “Future Reading List” for when my son is a bit older!
Yes! And with your interest in Rome, I think this would be such a fun book to read aloud with him. It’s really fabulous.
Thank you, Alysa! I’d love to hear your input.