The Violet Flash

Title: THE VIOLET FLASH
Author: Mike Mason
Publisher: David C. Cook
June 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4347-6525-3
Genre: Inspirational/young adult/fantasy

Ches Cholmondely and his sister Chelsea, along with two of their friends go across the street to the weather shop where Chelsea is showing them how to make Jack Frost paintings, when suddenly, the blue umbrella rips and Chelsea disappears into the umbrella!

Ches is frantic, and Sky (the weather maker) suddenly becomes “under the weather”. But even more weirdly, Ches learns that someone is stealing time…a second at a time from every living person on earth. And when that second is stolen, bad things happen. Like airplane crashes. Chelsea’s disappearance. And more.

Ches is on a mission to find his sister and to discover where time goes when it disappears. Solving one will solve the other. But how does one even begin?

THE VIOLET FLASH is the sequel to The Blue Umbrella, and it does not at all stand alone. Readers must be familiar with the events in The Blue Umbrella to have some understanding of what is happening in THE VIOLET FLASH. I did read The Blue Umbrella, but it was so long ago, I wished I still had it in hand to reread before starting this book. I did eventually figure things out, and I did remember some characters.

If you like fantasy, then THE VIOLET FLASH is a book to consider. Full of magic, unexplained events, and mystery, this is a book that will thrill any youth, male or female. The main character is male. I found the afterwords portion of the book especially interesting, as it included deleted scenes, and a glossary of words that might be unfamiliar to younger readers—which would be excellent in building their vocabulary. $9.99. 331 pages.