37. The Starry Window by Patricia Bow

The Starry Window by Patricia Bow (4/5)
Passage to Mythrin, Book 3

2012, Patricia Bow, 224 pgs.

"The Starry Window continues the adventures of Amelia Hammer, accidentally part-dragon, her dorky but kind-hearted cousin Simon, and Simon's geeky friend Ike. 

Something is poisoning the system of hidden gates and passages linking Earth and Mythrin. And on Mythrin, dragons are being enslaved. When two strangers appear in Dunstone, without names or memories or even clothes, Amelia knows in her bones that the blue-haired boy is her dragon friend, Ty. But who is the tall man with lilac eyes? 

Amelia, Simon and Ike trace the poison to a gate under Dunstone's new mall, where escalators are turning carnivorous, and to the horrific School for Wayward Youth that once stood there. The gate is a copy of a starry window on Mythrin that shows Simon's image, but it's gone bad; and he hears someone calling for help from beyond. 

The strange brew comes to a boil, causing mayhem in quiet little Dunstone and sending the cousins on a series of dangerous journeys. Into the wild landscape of Ty's mind, to restore his memory. To Mythrin, and a dragon death-battle. And finally, answering that call for help, into the shadow lands beyond the starry window."

Splendid conclusion to this unique middle grade fantasy!  At least I'm assuming it is the conclusion.  There is a finite ending to the plot but the characters obviously have lives ahead of them and the book concludes leaving us with this feeling that they will continue to have adventures.  The teen characters are real and I enjoyed the whole eccentric cast.  One thing I particularly enjoyed is that each book in this series is its own individual story; while there are major arcs that hold the books together each book is quite self-contained.  The fantasy element here is unique and not your typical magic, paranormal or quest book.  Bow has managed to bring together the two worlds (Earth and Mythrin) in an unconventional way and present a dragon story quite different from all the rest.

Since the long time period between publishing book 2 and 3 I was very pleased to see the book opened with a synopsis of the "story so far" in each of the previous two books.  This was sufficient enough for me to jump back into the parallel worlds. A quick read, I enjoyed highly and turned the pages with glee. (US)