The Mud Rose
Renee Duke
Paperback
(Ebound Canada, Aug. 1, 2016)
Renee Duke - The Mud Rose (Time Rose Book 2) Another journey into the past takes Paige, Dane, and Jack to Victorian London, where they meet two young mudlarks named Hetty and Pip. Even though life is very hard for them, Hetty is leery of seeking help from Dr. Barnardo or other social reformers who might separate her from her little brother. The Time Rose travellers have an idea for getting around that problem, but they’re about to have another. Jack the Ripper’s grisly attacks on women in the East End have the whole city on edge, and the blood splattered man Hetty and Pip happen across late one night doesn’t want witnesses on the loose. Review: Mudlarks and Jack the Ripper, The Cellophane Queen This is the second book in Renee Duke's Rose series about time-traveling kids making right the wrongs of the past. The first in the series involved the two princes in the Tower of London. They mystery is whether they were murdered by Richard III or did something else happen? "The Disappearing Rose" provides a provocative answer. The 2nd book, "Mud Rose," takes us back to Victorian England. The time-traveling trio of Paige, Dane, and Jack home in with their magical amulet to a sister and brother who mine the mud flats of the Thames for items they can sell. The kids, Hetty and Pip, have no parents or home. They have to make do as so many kids had to in the time period. Renee Duke paints us a picture of the poverty of the time period. The present day kids are taken to the 1880s tasked to save Hetty and Pip. But save them from what? Just an impoverished existence or is there more to the story. If you know a bit about history, the name Jack the Ripper should ring a bell. Hetty might have witnessed the Ripper after one of his murders. She and Pip are in danger from the notorious murderer, but they're also in danger of an early death from the horrid conditions in which they must live. The solution to the problem of Hetty and Pip's survival is the story of the Bernardo school for children, a real institution dedicated to helping the children of the time get an education and find new homes. Suffice it to say, the team of Paige, Dane, and Jack find a solution and carry through with the rescue.