The Cracks In The Kingdom

The Cracks In The Kingdom by Jaclyn Moriarty, 468 pages

This is the second book in The Colors Of Madeleine series.  Elliot, who lives in Cello, and Madeleine, who lives in the World (England, to us), have continued to communicate by letter through the crack they have found between our two worlds.  Elliot has begun using this connection to try to help Princess Ko, whose family has disappeared.  She believes that they have been sent to the World and has been devising plans to get them back.  Since most of the kingdom is unaware of the disappearance, this has been covert.  Of course, if Elliott is caught he is likely to be executed, since any type of communication between the two realms is expressly forbidden.  And time is running out.  An invitation has arrived for the King that cannot be refused and if he isn’t back in three months, Cello will likely be at war.  On a better note, two agents have been working to find Elliot’s father, who has also been missing, but they believe they have located the Hostiles who were responsible and it appears that they are willing to negotiate to release Elliot’s father.  A really good fantasy novel with some action, but more introspective.  Teens that like a quieter fantasy novel will probably like this series.