Twelve-year old twins Jackaran and Jaidith Shield are complete opposites. Jack has dark eyes and hair, Jaide has light. Jack can run faster than his sister, but Jaide can jump higher. They do, however, have one thing in common—they’re both troubletwisters. In this first book in a new series by Garth Nix and Sean Williams, Jack and Jaide are sent to live with their grandmother after their house explodes under some very strange circumstances. And they are about to find out just how strange things can get.
As soon as Jack and Jaide arrive at Grandma X’s house, nothing seems right. Weather vanes point in the wrong direction, and doors and signs disappear from around the house without warning. Perhaps strangest of all, Grandma X’s cats start talking to the twins. However, it is not until they see Grandma X creating whirlwinds inside the house and controlling thousands of white-eyed rats that they begin to realize that things are not just strange, but possibly dangerous. Will Grandma X help them, or is she behind the Evil that is threatening to steal Jack and Jaide away?
Troubletwisters is an exciting beginning to what promises to be a fast-paced series. Although this book is very different from Nix’s The Seventh Tower and The Keys to the Kingdom series, fans of those books will enjoy the action, magic and suspense that Nix and Williams both write so well. This is a perfect book for both boys and girls who enjoy fantasy set in the “real” world. For all their differences, Jack and Jaide are equally strong characters, and they work together to create a story that can be enjoyed by anyone.
