The Treasure Chest was important to Maisie, and Felix had gone there purposely without her. Maisie seemed to know he wanted to leave her out. And now they were all the way in China, and she was trying to escape him. If he lost Maisie here, he might lose her forever.”
In this third of a series, twelve-year old twins Maisie and Felix Robbins have moved to Newport Rhode Island to stay in the servants’ apartment of the seventy-room “cottage” their great-great-grand-father built. The twins are unhappy with their parents’ divorce and the recent move from New York City to Newport. After receiving a tour of the “cottage”, known as Elm Medona, something unusual happens.
Upon sneaking into the Treasure Chest (a secret forbidden room at the cottage) one night, Felix and Maisie scrabble over a jade box and are transported back in time to the city of Zhenjiang, China in 1899 where they meet young Pearl Sydenstricker, the daughter of an American missionary.
The twins have to figure out if she’s the one they are supposed to meet and how to get back to the present. When they return to present day Elm Medona, they are in for a surprise.
The author includes four pages of biographical information about Pearl Sydenstricker Buck which help frame the story but may not necessarily be read to enjoy the adventure. Good for graduates of The Magic Tree House Series. Ages 7-11 175 pages 978-0448454696
Recommended by: Alice Cyphers, Librarian, Pennsylvania USA
