Book Review – The History Keepers

The Storm Begins by Damian Dibben (Corgi Books) ISBN: 978-0-552-56413-7

The Telegraph said, ‘Move over Harry Potter, it is time for Jake Djones to take the limelight’. The fourteen-year-old did not get off to a good start in the book. His parents are away on a business trip when Jake is kidnapped. His brother went missing on a school camp years earlier and it made me wonder what type of parents leave a young boy on his own, especially after something like that had happened.

The kidnapping then seemed trivial when Jake tries to escape and manages to knock his kidnapper off his feet and then apologises. I realised there was a comical element to the book but felt that Jake was a cardboard character. He did not inspire me. He acted like a wimp at crucial times, which did not resonate with the storyline.

The History Keepers is about a secret group of people who are able to travel back in time. They keep history from changing at the hands of evil people who want to control the world. They kidnapped Jake because his parents are time travellers and are lost in time. Point Zero, their headquarters, have to find the Djones and they need Jake and his special powers to find his parents. Teens will enjoy this fantasy and may even learn a thing or two about history. I do not believe that this book will rival JK Rowling’s best-selling book.