The Alchymist's Cat - Softcover

Robin Jarvis studied graphic design in Newcastle and then worked in television and advertising making model monsters and puppets. He has been a full-time writer and illustrator for some time, and has a large following among children and adults. Robin's books are consistent best-sellers and he has won several awards for his work. The Dark Portal was runner-up for the Smarties Prize in 1989.

Gr. 5-8. This creepy, atmospheric horror tale, the first in the Deptford Histories and a scary prequel to the Deptford Mice trilogy, reveals how Jupiter, Lord of the Darkness, became so evil and so powerful. Orphaned Will Godwin arrives in London in 1664, summoned by an uncle he doesn't know. After being falsely accused of murder, he flees a mob and ends up in the hands of a wicked alchemist, Elias Theophratus Spittle, who forces Will into servitude. On a late-night errand in winter, Will is pursued and almost caught. He finds refuge in an overgrown graveyard, where he comes upon a mother cat and three young kittens, which he carries back to his master's apothecary shop. The streets of London are vividly realized in all their smell, filth, and disease, as is Spittle's laboratory with its noxious potions, smoke, and evil doings. Jarvis delivers a vivid tale of treachery, cruelty, and sorcery, leavened only by Will's innate goodness. It's also a real page-turner, guaranteed to mesmerize readers of the trilogy. Sally Estes
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