The Silver Arrow (The Silver Arrow #1)

by Lev Grossman (Author)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Dear Uncle Herbert, You've never met me, but I'm your niece Kate, and since it is my birthday tomorrow and you are super-rich could you please send me a present?

Kate and her younger brother Tom lead dull, uninteresting lives. And if their dull, uninteresting parents are anything to go by, they don't have much to look forward to. Why can't Kate have thrilling adventures and save the world the way people do in books? Even her 11th birthday is shaping up to be mundane -- that is, until her mysterious and highly irresponsible Uncle Herbert, whom she's never even met before, surprises her with the most unexpected, exhilarating, inappropriate birthday present of all time: a colossal steam locomotive called the Silver Arrow.

Kate and Tom's parents want to send it right back where it came from. But Kate and Tom have other ideas -- and so does the Silver Arrow -- and soon they're off to distant lands along magical rail lines in the company of an assortment of exotic animals who, it turns out, can talk. With only curiosity, excitement, their own resourcefulness and the thrill of the unknown to guide them, Kate and Tom are on the adventure of a lifetime . . . and who knows? They just might end up saving the world after all.

This thrilling fantasy adventure will not only entertain young readers but inspire them to see the beautiful, exciting, and precious world around them with new eyes.

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Kirkus Reviews

Starred Review

Both cozy and inspiring, this eco-fable conveys both grim truths and a defiant call to action. 

Publishers Weekly

Blending elements of conservation and magic, Grossman (The Magicians, for adults) crafts a timeless-feeling, Travers-tinged adventure in his middle grade debut. On her 11th birthday, Kate's uncle Herbert, "very rich and totally irresponsible," gives her an unexpected present: a life-size steam locomotive named the Silver Arrow. Kate and her younger brother Tom, finding the train fueled, are soon swept away by the sentient locomotive--which communicates with them via printed messages--first to acquire a selection of train cars (including delightfully stuffed candy and library compartments), and then to serve as conductors on an international rail system that transports talking animals, large and small, to new habitats. While learning to run the train and solve problems on their own, the siblings bond with myriad passengers and begin to understand global issues surrounding endangered and invasive species, habitat loss, and environmental stewardship. Though it's unclear why the magic train burns coal--a nonrenewable resource--in service of otherwise strong ecological messaging, whimsical details and well-wrought moments of adventure are neverthless certain to draw young readers. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-up. (Sept.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-7--Kate's 11th birthday is approaching, and she's bored. She longs to live the kind of adventures she reads about. Figuring she has nothing to lose, she emails a wealthy, mysterious uncle she's never met, Herbert, and asks him for a birthday present. He delivers in grand style, showing up in person and presenting Kate with a train, an actual full-size steam locomotive--the titular Silver Arrow--that takes her and her brother, Tom, on a magical journey. Traveling on enchanted rail lines, Kate and Tom transport a bevy of talking animals around the globe and must use their imaginations and problem-solving skills to get themselves home again eventually. Environmental messages are woven throughout in entertaining and age-appropriate ways (invasive species attempt a minor coup, a baby pangolin requires such stringent protection from traffickers that it has to be removed from the space-time continuum altogether). VERDICT Readers of all ages who share the protagonist's fondness for "books about ordinary people who find out that magic is real" will devour this charming adventure story.--Stephanie Klose, Library Journal

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

I loved it. Completely unpredictable and completely charming. A perfect book to cuddle up with and savor—and even better to read aloud with someone you love. —Adam Gidwitz, bestselling and Newbery honor-winning author

AMAZING

Did this for my fantasy book project for school, got from library, NEED TO OWN THIS.

Lev Grossman
Lev Grossman is the author of five novels including the #1 New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy, which has been published in thirty countries. A TV adaptation of the trilogy is now in its fifth season as the top-rated show on Syfy. Grossman is also an award-winning journalist who spent fifteen years as the book critic and lead technology writer at Time magazine, where he published more than twenty cover stories. In addition he has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, the Believer, the Village Voice, NPR, Salon, Slate, and Buzzfeed, among many others. He lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780316539531
Lexile Measure
740
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date
September 20, 2020
Series
The Silver Arrow
BISAC categories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV013070 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Siblings
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
JUV041050 - Juvenile Fiction | Transportation | Railroads & Trains
Library of Congress categories
Brothers and sisters
Animals
Locomotives
Adventure and adventurers
Magic
Adventure stories
Uncles
Quests (Expeditions)
Railroad trains
Birthdays
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 09/01/20

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