Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris

Moss (the Amelia's Notebook series) offers an engrossing, diary-style blend of history, mystery, and time travel. Fourteen-year-old Mira's mother has been missing for six months when the family receives a cryptic postcard from her, postmarked from Paris. Awash in a flood of emotion, Mira, her father, and her older brother head to the City of Light in hopes of a reunion. Amid their search for clues, Mira is transported to 1881 Paris, where she befriends Edgar Degas, his young assistant, %C3%89mile Zola, and Mary Cassatt%E2%80%94and sees her mother. Moss's tale, illustrated by Mira's sketches, toggles between the present and the 19th century, as Mira tries to understand her trip through time and is swept up in machinations surrounding the infamous Dreyfus Affair. Moss's careful attention to the Dreyfus case and the anti-Semitism that spurred it is laudable, as are the descriptions of the art movements (and artists) of the time. The arrival of a second postcard points to a sequel, and a thorough author's note provides information on Paris, Dreyfus, and Impressionist artists. Ages 9%E2%80%93up. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group. (Sept.)