In The Lost Kingdom, Matthew J. Kirby sets up a fantastic adventure that combines elements of history, fantasy, and alternative realities.  In doing so, he sets the stage for a tale that can explore thought-provoking societal and familial issues while still moving through a fast-paced and dangerous quest that keeps the reader turning page after page.  Set in the time just before the French and Indian War in North America, Kirby brings well-known (and some not well-known) characters from history and integrates them into a world of flying ships, bear-wolves and mastodons, and secret kingdoms in the wilderness.  Along the way he explores issues of racial prejudice, coming of age, the father-son relationship, and self-discovery.  The beginning feels a little rough as all the elements come together and the reader tries to understand a world both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time; but the story finds its groove as it moves along, and just keeps picking up momentum until the very end.  Strange as the setting may be, Kirby pulls off a tale that simultaneously gives  a grand sense of possibilities and impossibilities that exposes the reader to the magic of the question: “What if….?”

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic Press (A Scholastic Imprint)

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:None

Violence/Gore:  Robbery, gun aimed but not shot; gunfire, property damage; wild animal attack; ship crashes, various injuries; two characters fight, break property; animal hunt/kill/skinning described without much detail; characters captured and threatened; wild animal attack and a character receives fatal injuries; characters argue, slap and punch each other; battle violence with little description; implied violence from a character’s captivity; wild animal attack and a character is mauled and killed.

Sex/Nudity:  Husband and wife embrace and kiss.

Mature Subject Matter:

Racial Prejudice, Slavery, War, Death

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Adults drink beer and wine.