Tunnels (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Tunnels Books)

For use in schools and libraries only. When Will and his friend Chester embark on a quest to find Will's archaeologist father, who has disappeared, they are led to an underground world full of sinister inhabitants with evil intentions toward "Topsoilers" like Will.

a Thrilling Adventure Story About A Mysterious Underground World, Read By Jack Davenport. Fourteen-year-old Will Burrows Lives With His Parents And Younger Sister Rebeccain London. He Has Little In Common With Any Of Them, Except For A Passion For Digging, Which He Shares With His Father, A Museum Curator And Doctor Of Archaeology. When His Father Suddenly Disappears After A Row With His Mother, The Police Believe He Has Just Gone Away For A While To Cool Down. But Will Is Unconvinced, And Decides To Investigate With His Best Friend Chester.

publishers Weekly

although It Arrives From The U.k. Amid Plenty Of Fanfare-and To Fandom Here, Too (see Galley Talk, Dec. 10)-this First In A Planned Series Seems Full Of Holes, As If Its Raison D'être Were To Set Up The Action For Future Books. The Plot Builds On A Secret Subterranean Culture, A Cruel, Hierarchical English Society That Is Deeply Hostile To Topsoilers. As The Book Opens, The Punningly Named Will Burrows And His Archeologist Father Are Tunneling Beneath A Disused Train Station, As This Is Dr. Burrows's Passion. Their Bond Established, These Two Major Characters Soon Go Off In Different Directions; As They Do Later, The Authors Lengthily Follow One Protagonist And Seemingly Abandon The Others. Dr. Burrows, Having Discovered Underground Passages In Local Cellars, Disappears After A Quarrel With His Useless Wife; Will And A Friend Go After Him. Encumbered By Verbose And Flat Descriptions (his Whole Being Emanated Evil, And His Dark Eyes Never Left Will's, Who Felt A Wave Of Dread Wash Over Him.... {will] Was Unable To Tear His Gaze From The Sinister Man, Whose Thin Lips Twisted Into A Sardonic Smile), The Novel Is Nearly One-third Over Before The Boys Enter The Underground Colony-where They Are Promptly Imprisoned And Tortured. The Narrative At Last Begins To Twist And Turn, But The Authors Still Have Trouble Tracking Their Cast-and Because The Offstage Characters Seem To Figure So Punily In The Others' Thinking, Readers Have Little Incentive To Stay Invested In Their Fates. Ages 8-14. (jan.)

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When Will Burrows and his friend Chester embark on a quest to find Will's archaeologist father, who has inexplicably disappeared, they are led to a labyrinthine world underneath London, full of sinister inhabitants with evil intentions toward "Topsoilers" like Will and his father SUMMARY: When Will and his friend Chester embark on a quest to find Will's archaeologist father, who has disappeared, they are led to an underground world full of sinister inhabitants with evil intentions toward "Topsoilers" like Will.