Stacey Casey: The Lost City by Michael C Madden is a lively kid’s adventure story that’ll appeal to a young audience.
Stacey Casey, her father, and her friend Amelia need to rescue Stacey’s best friend, Oliver. Oliver is lost in the past and probably at the mercy of an enemy who’s been trying to steal their time machine.
Rescuing Oliver won’t be simple, though, and it may send them spinning through time to solve other problems as well.
This is a relatively straightforward plot, with the complications and paradoxes of time travel well articulated for a young audience. It’s fast moving, and there’s something happening almost all the time.
Madden does slow down for some character development, but there’s not a lot of it. It felt very much secondary to the action.
I asked my Miss Ten to read this, and here’s what she had to say about it.
“I really enjoyed reading this. It’s a good book. The idea of a time machine isn’t very original, but the author put lots of original ideas with it – like the artifacts they find. I also really liked the mix of fictional characters and real historical people.
The book doesn’t really stand on its own. There are too many references to things that happened in earlier books that aren’t explained here. I would have enjoyed it lots more if I’d read the first books. There were only two things I didn’t like about the book. One was that the illustrations were done in a variety of styles and that was a bit strange. The other was that I would have liked it to be a lot longer!”
This novel effectively opens in the middle of the story. While Miss Ten is right that it will be more enjoyable if you’ve read the earlier books, I don’t think many readers will have trouble following the story. It’s reasonably straightforward and events are clearly explained as they happen.
Putting an age range on a book is always a bit fraught, but the themes, plot and language make this suitable for kids from about seven years – probably topping out with some reluctant readers around 12 years. The relative simplicity and short length may mean that it’s most enjoyed by those aged 7-10 years.
This is an appealing novel. The content is suitable for a wide audience, unlikely to cause concern for even the most protective guardian. It provides a solid dose of entertainment and is likely to be particularly welcomed by readers of the earlier novels.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading Stacey Casey: The Lost City by Michael C Madden. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
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I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember, and I love sharing that joy.
I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, across all genres. There’s not much I won’t at least try. I’ve been an enthusiastic book reviewer for years. I particularly enjoy discovering writers new to me, and sharing good writing with others.
My career has included time spent writing and editing technical documents, but it’s fiction that really moves me. I’ve reviewed for a number of different outlets over the years, and have been a judge in literary competitions.
I’m now raising little bookworms of my own, which brings a whole new kind of joy to sharing books.
More of my reviews can be found on my review blog www.otherdreamsotherlives.home.blog .
Stacey Casey – The Lost City by Michael C. Madden, illustrated by Nancy Bevington (Big Sky Publishing) is Book 3 in the Stacey Casey series.
A fun book although I found that not having read the previous books in the series (which were often referenced) was a disadvantage.
It is aimed at younger primary school readers and runs through the adventures Stacey and her best friend Oliver get up to. Stacey’s dad is an inventor, and not a particularly good one. However somehow he has managed to create a time machine! Accordingly the adventures Stacey and Oliver go on explore different times, places and famous figures from the past. Many of the problems they try to overcome also consider the science behind time travel…
A potentially good Christmas present, although I would recommend starting with Book 1 of the series.
Stacey Casey – The Lost City written by Michael Madden. What a delightful read. I wish we had books like this when I was young, such imagination and descriptions of people and places, you almost felt like you were there with them. It had just a bit of “history” thrown into the mix which grounded the story to a plot. This book was part of a series and did have refences to previous stories but all the same it was enjoyable and easy to follow the story.
This book will capture the minds of young readers as time travel is often a fascination and the hunt for artifacts gave the story some bearing on why they keep travelling around. The story is based on looking after family and friends and artifact hunting. What kids doesn’t like to dream of travel to other worlds with the chance of mystery intrigue and saving the universe.
Well written and a very entertaining book (and the other parts of the series) for children aged 7 and upwards. I will be passing this book and the others in the series to my niece for her to enjoy!
Thank you Beauty & Lace and Big Sky Publishing for he opportunity to review this book.
My great niece and I read this together. She is 8 years old and a proficient reader. She loved the concept of a book about time travel so was excited to read this story.
Stacey Casey’s father has invented a Time Machine but unfortunately it doesn’t work as well as he had hoped as the whole house and everyone in it is transported back in time.
In this adventure Oliver, Stacey’s friend has been lost in a past time travel and reappears as an old man. Stacey must travel back in time to rescue him and to stop an evil woman from taking over the world . In their quest they encounter Plato and discover the Lost City of Atlantis.
A great adventurous read with illustrations throughout that break the story up and help the readers imagination. There are also wonderful historical facts scattered through the adventure that really add to the excitement of the storyline. Looking forward to reading more Stacey Casey adventures.
My 11 year old enjoyed the book. She found that the book was very detailed. It had a good storyline and she would recommend it to others
My daughter also listened when I said we aren’t meant to give away the storyline but she would be so happy to review again.
What a great story. This is book number 3 in the series and something to keep in mind if you are wanting chapter books that will have your young reader engrossed. What a brilliant series to purchase for them for Christmas.
Through time travel with her father and friends Stacey’s stories are able to teach little bits of history in a way thats easy and enjoyable for young readers to take in. One of those situations where they are learning without realising it.
Thank you for the opportunity to read (and read with others) Stacey Casey The Lost City.
Having not read the earlier stories, there were many instances in this story that didn’t make quite make sense, however, it was still an enjoyable read.
The story involves time travel, this time to Atlantis with Plato and and what a place full of wonder it is. The descriptions were very detailed however we did find some of the words needed to be looked up.
The story encourages imagination and the pictures within the book help build the story.
It seems the previous stories also involve a place in time and related person so it’ll be interesting to see what comes next as well as catch up on what’s already happened.
Mr 10 liked this book but felt that it wasn’t long enough and that there were references to previous book so its hard to understand the story if you haven’t read those books.
The story was interesting though and the characters were captivating. A nice read