Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 03/01/2014 Instead of looking forward to her rule, Cleopatra—yes, that Cleopatra—prefers to skip her algebra lessons in favor of playing with slingshots. Plans to celebrate her fifteenth birthday are put on hold when she is transported to a future complete with ray guns, an adorable council of talking cats, and a dictator who has wiped out all the galaxy’s electronic knowledge and kept it for himself. The good news? Cleopatra is the savior who will restore order to the Nile galaxy. The bad news? There’s no way home. And she still has to take algebra. Cleo’s mentor, a historian cat, is one of the best sidekicks around, and the imaginative content (example: an interplanetary space bike in the shape of a sphinx) and flow of Maihack’s panels is a delight, with its exciting layout of a futuristic Egypt complete with cool pyramid skyscrapers. The origin narrative slows some of the action, but readers will still eagerly anticipate book two of this promising series. - Copyright 2014 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 05/01/2014 Gr 3–5—The spunky Egyptian princess escapes her tutor and is transported to Mayet, a planet in the future. There, the 15-year-old learns that evil dictator Xaius Octavian is conquering neighboring civilizations. She discovers a Mayet prophesy about a hero who will defeat this evil and is astonished to learn the she is the foretold liberator. "Lightyears from home, millennia in the future, and… savior of the planet," she bemoans as she is sent to Mayet school for further education and training. Cleo is a troublemaker who skips school and performs poorly in academic subjects. However, the royal immediately takes to ray gun practice with the same zeal she anciently had for a slingshot. Her sharpshooting skills astound the student body. After four months of training, planet leaders evaluate her progress and determine that she is rash, lacks discipline, and needs two more years of preparation. But time is running out. Under the guise of a school assignment, she is sent on a dangerous mission to retrieve an important key. Plenty of action ensues as this Teflon-like heroine, seemingly oblivious to peril, fearlessly attempts to complete the task. This high-adventure fantasy, complete with a talking cat in the sidecar of a flying sphinx, is chock-full of action and attitude. Charming characters with expressive faces and disproportionately large heads seem younger than their 15 years. Although the opening time shifts are confusing, young readers will soon be caught up in the escapist fun.—Barbara M. Moon, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.