The boy in the kingdom has a new mission. For almost a year this boy has been searching the kingdom to find his missing father, but now all that must wait. The kingdoms princess has asked for his help in locating the missing royal family, the same royal family that everyone believes is not missing, and he must go about this new mission in complete secrecy as it is believed the missing royals have been taken through the cracks into the world. The very world it is against the law to contact, the very world the boy has been writing letters to.

The girl in the world has decided that she will help the boy in the kingdom, despite the chance he may not be real, because really she has nothing better to do. But the world is a big place and even if these royals from the kingdom existed, where in the wide world would she ever find them? If by some chance a girl in the world could locate these amnesiac royals from the kingdom, she would have to find a way to convince them of who they are, of where they belong. But even if that were possible, how would she get them through a crack no bigger than a letter and back to their kingdom?

The Cracks In The Kingdom allow contact to the world. A corner of white will have unforeseen consequences for a boy in the kingdom due to illegal acts. A corner of white will bring unintended circumstances to a girl in the world due to continued belief. Both will experience setbacks and both will find strength in friendships, and together they may just find their way through the cracks. This, the second bright and adventurous story in this series, is as charismatic and colourful as the first, drawing you ever deeper into the lives of these warn and intricate characters. ( )

Delightfully whimsical

I don't know what to expect with these books, which makes reading them fun. Anything could happen.


Library copy ( )

The sequel to A Corner of White, about two teenagers, Madeleine and Elliot who find a crack between their two worlds (in Cambridge, the World, and Bonfire, the Kingdom of Cello, respectively) which allows them to send letters to each other. In The Cracks in the Kingdom, they start treating the crack like a form of instant messaging, sneaking out at night and exchanging notes back and forwards. Elliot also becomes more aware about the state of affairs in Cello.

This story is unusual, gorgeously written, whimsical and witty. A tale of growing up, friendship and dealing with absent fathers. Peppered with fascinating facts about history of science and the science of colours. The heart of the story is in the characters and their relationships. I thought it was lovely and was enjoying it enormously.

AND THEN! And then, unexpectedly, the pieces suddenly start falling together! This was incredibly exciting and satisfying and unexpected.

... alright, it wasn't quite so unexpected, because after A Corner of White I was expecting there to be twists and unexpected developments. But suspecting that something unexpected might happen didn't mean I knew what that something would be, so it was still unexpected.

I'm looking forward to the next one.

He hadn't known that laughter could form an orchestra, but turned out you could play it liken instruments. They were playing one another's laughter, spinning it against walls, catching it and throwing it back. And then they were running, chasing the laughter, trailing it behind them. ( )

Although there were several places in this book where I was wondering what the author was doing, I enjoyed this book overall. I am looking forward to the next one in the series. ( )