Where Alexandra's Scroll
(reviewed above) whisks readers back in time, this novel by an Israel-based author whisks its characters back in time. In their Tel Aviv apartment, Galit and Gidon venture out of bed to spin the dreidels in the curio cabinet, but when Gidon mistakenly handles a block marked Cronos
(the Greek god of time), the siblings find themselves transported to the scene of the Maccabees' rebellion against the Greeks. The historical details, like those in Scroll, are excellent; the plotting runs more to cliffhanger-style action (as suggested by the cover, showing two terrified children gripped in the trunk of an elephant ridden by armed Greek soldiers) while the prose runs to the formulaic. B&w art throughout. Ages 9-14. (Sept.)
