The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel Published by HarperTrophy on March 10, 2015
Pages: 336
Goodreads
Will Everett has always wished for an adventure. Little does he know that his adventure starts the moment he boards the Boundless. There is a murder, and now Will must protect a key that can unlock the train's hidden treasures. Villians are fast on his heels and strange creatures are lurking outside the windows as the Boundless hurtles across the country. Together with Maren, a gifted escape artist, and Mr. Dorian, a circus ringmaster with amazing abilities, Will must save the Boundless before someone else winds up dead.
His adventure may have begun without him knowing . . . but how it ends is up to Will.
Ready or not, school has started. Along with this great adventure for our children comes great amounts of homework. Homework may include…the dreaded book report. It is challenging to get most kids to do their homework. Add a book report and the challenge becomes even more difficult. However, I have a solution. “The Boundless” by Kenneth Oppel is a FANTASTIC novel for a book report or presentation. For students in grades 6, 7, and 8, this is a book that they will enjoy reading AND sharing with classmates. I absolutely loved reading this book and so did my husband, a train enthusiast and adventure seeker.
Situated during the final stages of construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, “The Boundless” adds a bit of history to a fiction novel. Not a lot of history to bore you, but just the right amount to include in those reports. It really helped stage the novel and shared insight into the attitudes of many individuals involved with the railway. A young reader may not have known this history, and the author did not take this back-ground information for granted. The setting is in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, majestic and breath-taking, dangerous and foreboding.
On its maiden journey, “The Boundless” is the most magnificently built machine of its time. The rich, famous, and most important individuals are embarking on a ride of a lifetime. True to those times, classes amongst the people decided your place along the train cars with the owner of the train in the first car and the travelling circus at the very back.
Young Will accompanies his father on this journey of all journeys where it becomes apparent that people are not who they say they are and more importantly, lives are traded for valuable items. Will must save his father’s life, but who can he trust? Men in suits or the oddities from the travelling circus. Can wits, tricks, and magic save the day? Can Will truly count on his new friends?
A fast-paced mystery aboard a moving train on new tracks in the mountains that may or may not be filled with snow monsters keeps the readers flipping the pages to read on and immerse themselves in this journey. I could not put this book down!
Ready for the ride of your life? Read, “The Boundless” and get ready to have your breath taken away.
