Awkward in his own skin, shy around girls and worried about anything and everything, Jason Evans is just like a million other teenage boys in high school, with one very large exception: he has been given a gift that allows him to jump through time. A set of stones has fallen into his lap that gives him access to any place - and any time - that he chooses. But along with that gift comes the responsibility of stopping the man who is using those very stones to travel through time and change history for his own purposes. A man who is now holding Jason's grandfather hostage, and threatening the world's very existence. Jumping through time with his best friend and body guard, Jason must enter the world of Medieval England, learn its customs, navigate unimaginable danger, and help Henry VII win the Battle of Bosworth, in the name of finding his grandfather, rescuing a beautiful girl from the clutches of a corrupt church, and destroying the one man who pledges to turn history inside out. Gr 7-10-Nerdy, messy-haired, and intelligent, Jason Evans is the grandson of a physicist. Life seems pretty normal for the 14-year-old and his equally geeky, smart-aleck friend Paul, until the day Jason discovers his grandfather's journal. What he reads makes him question the old man's sanity, but as strange things begin happening, Jason is convinced that Doc's exploits are real. He has traveled back through time to 1485, where he is the Earl of Oxford, an advisor to Henry Tudor in his battle with King Richard III for England's throne. Doc's efforts are being thwarted by Lord Dresden, who is really Doc's modern-day foil Nicholas Fleming, a man with a maniacal plan to change history and take over the world. Unable to stop Doc before he jumps once again, Jason, Paul, and a tough-as-nails bodyguard hired to protect the family plan their own journey back in time to help him. Things get even more complicated when Nicholas's teenage daughter insists on tagging along. McHugh does a good job creating a sense of time and place in both centuries, presenting vivid historical details as well as believable present-day bantering.-Wendy M. Scalfaro, G. Ray Bodley High School, Fulton, NYα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. "McHugh has written a rollicking, action-packed adventure . Characters are smart and interesting ... dialog is sharp and witty . Give this to fans of action, adventure, and historical fiction." VOYA - Amy Fiske "Creates a sense of time and place in both centuries ... vivid historical details ... believable present-day bantering." School Library Journal "Could not put this book down. Pick [it] up today ... You won't regret it."-- Me, Myshelf and I reviews "Historical fantasy [is] a treat in Keeper of the Black Stones . Jason and his best friend need to travel back to the Middle Ages, re-fight the War of the Roses, save his grandfather and, oh yeah, all of humanity. After that, finals should be a breeze. The action here is charged, and Jason is a likable, funny hero. The book has a wicked twist at the end that you'll wish you saw coming; it turns out to be a teaser for the second volume in this planned [series]. Literature, history, and science are whipped into the mix here, and can inspire a lot of outside reading." - ForeWord Reviews "An exhilarating tale ... an action-packed adventure ... Won't [give] away the ending, but THE ENDING! Book two, where are you?!"-- The Sister's Tale Reviews I've gone by many names, but it's always been me. I met Anne Frank before she wrote her diary. I consulted with Churchill on political doctrine. I crossed the Potomac with Washington. I even polished Napoleon's shoes in the streets of Charleroi, once, though it's not a story I like to tell. I've been in too many places to name, and done things I never thought I'd do. All in the name of saving history, and saving the world we call home. I realize that these boasts won't be taken seriously, but I must remind each of you that at one time the earth was flat, the atom unbreakable. And the thought of reaching the moon was just as ridiculous as the idea of jumping through time. I know, because I was there. My name is Jason Evans. I'm ten days shy of my fifteenth birthday, and this is my story... Jason Evans, a shy, introverted high school freshman, thought that his mundane life was all there was - girls, golf, physics, and the occasional bully. Until he found out about the secrets his grandfather had been keeping from him ... a set of stones that allowed them to jump through time ... a maniacal madman who used the stones to shape history to his liking ... and Jason's role as one of the few people in the world who could stop that man. Against impossible odds, a fourteen-year-old boy must take up his legacy, learn everything he needs to know within one short day, and travel helter skelter into the Middle Ages, to join Henry VII's fight against R