Name: The Silver Arrow
Price: 10.78 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.7 (433 reviews)

Product Description



A New York Times bestseller!A PeopleMagazine Best Book of the Year"I loved every page. This is middle grade fiction at its best."-- Ann Patchett


 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians comes a must-read, wholly original middle-grade debut perfect for fans of The Chronicles of Narnia and Roald Dahl.


Dear Uncle Herbert,

You've never met me, but I'm your niece Kate, and since it is my birthday tomorrow and you are super-rich could you please send me a present?

Kate and her younger brother Tom lead dull, uninteresting lives. And if their dull, uninteresting parents are anything to go by, they don't have much to look forward to. Why can't Kate have thrilling adventures and save the world the way people do in books? Even her 11th birthday is shaping up to be mundane -- that is, until her mysterious and highly irresponsible Uncle Herbert, whom she's never even met before, surprises her with the most unexpected, exhilarating, inappropriate birthday present of all time: a colossal steam locomotive called the Silver Arrow.

Kate and Tom's parents want to send it right back where it came from. But Kate and Tom have other ideas -- and so does the Silver Arrow -- and soon they're off to distant lands along magical rail lines in the company of an assortment of exotic animals who, it turns out, can talk. With only curiosity, excitement, their own resourcefulness and the thrill of the unknown to guide them, Kate and Tom are on the adventure of a lifetime . . . and who knows? They just might end up saving the world after all.

This thrilling fantasy adventure will not only entertain young readers but inspire them to see the beautiful, exciting, and precious world around them with new eyes.


From School Library Journal


Gr 3–7—Kate's 11th birthday is approaching, and she's bored. She longs to live the kind of adventures she reads about. Figuring she has nothing to lose, she emails a wealthy, mysterious uncle she's never met, Herbert, and asks him for a birthday present. He delivers in grand style, showing up in person and presenting Kate with a train, an actual full-size steam locomotive—the titular Silver Arrow—that takes her and her brother, Tom, on a magical journey. Traveling on enchanted rail lines, Kate and Tom transport a bevy of talking animals around the globe and must use their imaginations and problem-solving skills to get themselves home again eventually. Environmental messages are woven throughout in entertaining and age-appropriate ways (invasive species attempt a minor coup, a baby pangolin requires such stringent protection from traffickers that it has to be removed from the space-time continuum altogether). VERDICT Readers of all ages who share the protagonist's fondness for "books about ordinary people who find out that magic is real" will devour this charming adventure story.—Stephanie Klose, Library Journal


Review


Praise for The Silver Arrow:




"
I loved it. Completely unpredictable and completely charming.
A perfect book to cuddle up with and savor--and
even better to read aloud with someone you love." ―
Adam Gidwitz, bestselling and Newbery honor-winning author of A Tale Dark and Grimm and The Inquisitor's Tale

*"Both
cozy and inspiring, this eco-fable conveys both grim truths and
a defiant call to action."―
Kirkus, starred review

*"Grossman's
gorgeous middle-grade debut is vivid and amusing... it's
a world all its own."―
Booklist, starred review

"...
whimsical details and
 well-wrought moments of adventure are nevertheless certain to draw young readers."―
Publishers Weekly

"...
one that's sure to become a classic all its own."―
Barnes & Noble Reads

"[A]
scrumptious fantasy confection."―
Horn Book

"
Fans of classic talking-animal tales such as the Chronicles of Narnia will want to pick up a copy."―
BCCB

"I loved every page. This is
middle grade fiction at its best."―
Ann Patchett

"Lev Grossman’s novel ‘
The Silver Arrow’ is something
special. Here is an

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