The shape of time

Fourteen-year-old Antares de la Vega, who experiences panic attacks and whose cartographer parents vanished when he was very young, chafes at life's mundanity and has a burning desire to explore the unknown. The arrival of intergalactic strangers named Mr. Now, Mr. Minutes, and Mr. Hoursback kicks off a series of events in which Antares is chased by crocodile men and imprisoned in a secret Bermuda Triangle facility. There he meets fellow detainee Magdavellía, a prickly teenage girl who "could've been from anywhere in the world"; her robot companion; and Zamangar, an idiosyncratic elderly man with an escape plan. As the group work toward their freedom, Antares learns that the world is flat and far weirder than he ever dreamed, and that he's a pawn in an age-old quest to uncover a legendary artifact that promises immense power. In this freewheeling series opener, Calejo (the Charlie Hernández series) presents a frenetic adventure that combines classic conspiracy theories with metaphysics and a touch of mayhem. Playful linguistic looseness ("This is wondificent!") and memorably rendered characters round out this exciting offbeat tale. Antares is multiethnic ("My dad was born in Mexico City and had Cuban heritage. My mom was part Indian, part Irish, and was born in Switzerland"). Ages 8--12. Agent: Rena Rossner, Deborah Harris Agency. (Sept.)

A South Florida teenager who yearns for far horizons really gets his wish. Calejo delivers a time-travel tale rich in inventive twists. The "wrinkles" (wink, wink) begin with a trio of mysterious strangers named Mr. Now, Mr. Minutes, and Mr. Hoursback. Afterward, 14-year-old Antares de la Vega finds himself abruptly hustled away to a prison in the Bermuda Triangle, where he learns, among other things, that the Earth is actually flat and we spherers are all victims of a huge hoax, that lands like Atlantis actually exist and are full of magical creatures, and that his long-vanished parents may still be alive. Soon, along with fierce fellow prisoner Magdavellía and her robotic bodyguard, Deus Ex, he's engaged in a desperate race to beat a mysterious warlord in finding a compass that will lead to an island where one can find knowledge, youth, power, and wealth. Besides weaving significant elements ranging from ley lines and Platonic solids to Martians into the plot, the author plays creatively with language ("It's mindbafoggling!" "This is wondificent!"). But a scary climax that cuts off abruptly with an epilogue featuring newspaper headlines will leave readers puzzled as to whether events have somehow been resolved offstage or have just been suspended until the next episode. Antares, prone to panic attacks and foot-in-mouth disease, is a winning protagonist who is Mexican and Cuban on his father's side and Indian and Irish on his mother's. There are occasional monochrome illustrations. Stumbles at the end but otherwise mindbafoggling and wondificent. (Fantasy. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.