The Riddles of Epsilon

by Christine Morton-Shaw

Book Overview

Jess has moved to a remote island called Lume off the coast of England. Her parents are restoring an old house, and Jess discovers an abandoned cottage on their property. Inside the cottage Jess... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060728191
• ISBN13: 9780060728199
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Harper Teen
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

bibliokleptomaniac says:

the Riddles of Epsilon is a great book, and i really enjoyed it. Suspenseful, inspiring, exciting...it is all these and more! it is about a girl, who finds herself caught up in an ancient legend that is taking effect today. if she fails, her mom is a goner. loved the book soooo much that i bought it. you'll love it too.

The book I could not put down

I could not put this book down! It only took me a single weekend to read it cover to cover! It was so good. There are riddles and puzzles. There is a connection to the past and there is a long kept family secret lurking around the new home of Jess. Never a boring part in this book your eyes are always looking towards the next page, anxious to know what will happen next. This book tells of a secret on an island just off shore of the mainland. A secret about the new house her mother had inherited. When Jess finds an old cottage on her family's land she meets a being not from this earth. Epsilon is his name and riddles are all he give Jess. Scared and curious, Jess is determined to figure out why her mother, upon moving here, has changed so much. Sleep walking and humming an eerie tune, her mother gathers sea shells from the shore. Can Jess figure it all out to save her mom in time? I really did like this book a lot. There are some hard parts to understand, like when there are the odd letters that once translated it will tell a riddle. There were a lot of those and then there were chat room conversations. I have never seen a book with that. I really like that the author had a different alphabet in this book. That added to the mystery and mind reeling turns. And of course, deep down, I think, that this book showed that every teen, no matter how much she or he tries to hate them they do try to protect parents. This book was about courage, problem solving, and family love. I really do recommend you to read this book. It was very good book!

Great Read

This is a really good book. Once I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading it. I finished it all in one night. I have read a lot of books, and they all fell into patterns except for some. This one just woke me up. If you are an avid reader and need something refreshing, read this. I recommend it.

The Best Book...

I loved this book! I was racing through this book because it was sooo good! I set myself a limit of 100 pages a day or less. (100 pages seems like a lot, but I found myself reading 150-180 pages in one sitting!) The story is a blend of scariness, mystery, suspense, and adventure! This is a GREAT read! The cave scene was great and the ending was very satisfying. Keep up the good work Christine Morton-Shaw! I will read more of her novels, and I hope you can too!

A fresh and exciting approach to writing

Jessica is angry with her boring new hometown and the total unfairness of life in general. But she's especially angry with her parents. So what if she's been hanging out with so called troublemakers and getting her nose pierced? Is that reason enough to be yanked away from her friends and home to live on a secluded island named Lume in an ancient, rundown house that her mom had inherited? According to her parents, yes, it's reason enough. And there's not a whole lot Jess can do about the situation. But she certainly isn't going to be happy about it, or talk to them about her day, and she definitely isn't going to help them with their projects. So when her dad asks her to fix up the coop in preparation for the chickens' arrival, and her mom assigns miles and miles of house rehabilitation chores, Jess decides it's time to disappear for a few hours. That's when she discovers the mysterious cabin with the overgrown garden completely hiding it from view. Right away, Jess feels as if she's not alone there, that she's being watched. But despite the small case of the willies, this secluded cabin provides the perfect hideaway from her demanding parents. Besides, the cabin is intriguing with lots of ancient artifacts lying around, the comfortable hammock, and the interesting doorstep with the strange symbols etched on it. But then things really start getting weird. Later on, Jess hears flute music calling her back to the cabin where she finds a journal entry by a boy written 100 years earlier. The boy writes about a dream he had, of a girl who wears pants and who lights a "lantern" at the flip of a switch. On the back of the entry, he has drawn a sketch of the strange dream girl, and Jess is shocked to see a drawing of herself! Then there are the mysteriously encoded messages, the three locked boxes, the ghost-like images fading in and out, and then to top it off, her mom starts behaving very strangely. And then there's the dark tower that has no doors or windows, being guarded by the four sinister stone gargoyles. Jessica is drawn right into the middle of this mysterious battle between good and evil, but will she be able to figure out whom to trust in time? Author Christine Morton-Shaw takes a slightly different and fresh approach to arranging her story, alternating chapters of Jessica's diary entries with transcriptions of chat room visits. She weaves a fast-paced story full of mystery and action. Every chapter --- in fact, almost every page --- offers colorful excitement and attention-grabbing events. Readers will enjoy trying to solve the many riddles Morton-Shaw has planted throughout the story ---- that is, if they can stop turning the pages long enough to think through the clever conundrums. Prepare for an exciting adventure on the island of Lume with Jessica and her mysterious co-islanders! --- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author