Kid Konnection: Mira’s Diary
Mira’s mom has been gone for a while. She doesn’t answer her cell phone and the missing persons report Mira, her dad, and her brother filed hasn’t helped either. When a strange, old Parisian postcard from her mom shows up telling them not to worry about her, they all head to Paris. They’re not really sure what they’re looking for so they head to Notre Dame since that’s what’s pictured on the postcard.
As they explore the cathedral, Mira touches a gargoyle and instantly finds herself transported to 1881. She encounters Claude, an assistant to artist Edgar Degas. She also catches a glimpse of her mother who sends her a note informing her that the ability to time travel runs in their family but there are rules involved and that people from the same family shouldn’t time travel together.
Mira discovers that she’s been sent to the past for a reason and it’s her job to figure out what it is and what she can do about it. Mira has quite a task ahead of her – she needs to help change history so she can bring her mother home.
I enjoyed Mira’s Diary: Lost in Paris, by Marissa Moss, but I didn’t love it. I really liked Mira – she was smart, earnest, and clever. She adapts easily to her newly discovered gift, even if she doesn’t completely understand it. I also liked the fact that so many artists and artistic styles were mentioned in the book.
I did struggle with the story a little bit, though. The book takes on the Dreyfus affair – an event in French history that I wasn’t familiar with so I had to do some googling to totally understand it. It’s an important part of French history but I’m not sure middle grade readers will understand it the way it’s presented in this book. Also, nothing seemed to be resolved by the end of the book. I think the author was leaving things open for a sequel but some type of resolution would have been nice.
Overall, I think Mira’s Diary would appeal to young female readers who enjoy historical fiction and/or time travel.
For more children’s books reviews, go to Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, leave a comment as well as a link on her site.
I liked this better than you did. I think because I always like time travel stories.
Interesting – it does sound a little complex for middle graders!
We love time travel stories so I will look this one up, although my daughter dislikes endings with no resolution. This sounds like it’s part of a series.
I’m not a time traveller fan in stories because as much as I know it’s all made up, a little part of me keeps reminding me that even the slightest thing the traveller does or says will change the future. Bit of an old grump I know
Very nice review! Mira sounds like a great character.
Thanks for the review. I enjoyed this one…the illustrations throughout were very cool. I can see how parts of it might be too much for an MG reader, though. I liked that I could read it and enjoy it though being older than the average MG reader. LOL
Lauren from http://www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com
My granddaughter would probably like this one!
I’m pretty sure that most middle-graders wouldn’t bother to try to figure out that part of French history. Thanks for the awesome review!
I like the premise and it sounds like a cute read. I would probably want to pick it up just based on the cover alone. Too bad about the ending and that there are so many loose ends. Thanks for telling us about this one!
Read this and felt the same way! I think it’s a series, too!
Too bad it wasn’t as great as it sounded in the description!
I think I”ll be researching this one too!
I bet my daughter would like this one!