Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Schultz
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Time-travel sequel is intense, suspenseful, and exciting.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In the second volume in Marissa Moss' Mira's Diary series, 14-year-old Mira Levin -- who shares her mother's ability to time-travel -- receives another note from her mom. Mrs. Levin is living in turn-of-the-17th-century Rome and is trying to prevent events that she says will affect her children's future. Mira must go to Rome, and back in time, to help her mom. Following cryptic clues, Mira finds herself employed by Monsignore Del Monte, a patron to the great artist Caravaggio, who also becomes part of the story. Mira learns that she must preserve the writings of a philosopher named Giordano Bruno, whose life is threatened by the Inquisition. While trying to save Bruno, in a strange city in a dangerous time, Mira must also dodge the Watchers -- time-travel police who don't want her to meddle in the past.
Is It Any Good?
Marissa Moss' second Mira's Diary novel is as ambitious and suspenseful as the first, and teaches much about great Italian art and architecture as well as the history of scientific thought. Whereas some of the ideas and historical background may be over young readers' heads to varying degrees, the book can be enjoyed on a variety of levels. Some readers may simply be gripped the suspenseful story; others may like digging deep into the problem of why the 16th-century Roman Catholic church considered scientists their enemies. This is an exciting, eye-opening adventure story that will appeal especially to young art lovers, budding scientists, and history buffs.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about time-traveling. For Mira, this ability means she gets to meet great artists and other geniuses from the past. If you could time-travel, where/what time would you want to visit, and whom would you hope to meet?
How does this Mira's Diary book compare to the frist book in the series, Lost in Paris? Where do you think Mira should visit next?
Learn more about the great art and ideas of Renaissance Rome by exploring the books in the bibliography at the back of Mira's Diary: Home Sweet Rome.
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Marissa Moss
- Genre : Adventure
- Topics : Adventures , Arts , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Sourcebooks
- Publication date : April 2, 2013
- Number of pages : 192
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Kindle
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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