The trap door by Lisa McMann

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Infinity Ring bk. 3, Scholastic Inc., 2013, 192pp, H/b. ISBN 9780545386982.
(Ages: 8+) Recommended. Dak, Sera and Riq are Hystorians, people who travel back in time to fix disruptions in history. In book three of the Infinity Ring series the young time travellers travel back in time to Maryland, a slave state in the United States. The year is 1850, when slaves who escaped into the North from the South are captured and sold back to the South.
Riq's family is from Africa and because of his skin colour is mistaken for a runaway slave and captured, leaving 11 year old Sera and Dak to try and free Riq before he is sold. Dak, Sera and Riq need to fix the past in order to save the future but because Riq's family were slaves, they need to be careful to ensure his family history remains intact. If they intervene, making drastic changes, it could mean Riq will never be born.
Read the book and learn why history has gone wrong and how it can be fixed. Follow the included Hystorian's guide, solve puzzles along the way and then play the game by logging onto the Infinity Ring website. This is a good interactive adventure with a blend of history and mystery. A moral message is also portrayed with Riq making sacrifices to help others. Riq is a very likeable character who is well-mannered, helpful and friendly to strangers, which leads him to risking everything to save the life of a young boy.
Michelle Thomson

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