The Clockwork Three in Mock Newbery 2026

Jun 14, 2011 Becky Barrier Nelson rated it really liked it

Shelves: lunch-bunch, read-alouds, battle-of-the-books, model-posts

This is an amazing story which includes adventure/ intrigue/ mystery/ fantasy/history. The setting is a coastal town in early America where immigrants and goods flow back and forth. The first 3 chapters introduce the reader to the main characters individually: Giuseppe (sold by his uncle to an evil padrone, Stephano, who took him to America and used him to make money by playing his violin on the street corners), Frederick (placed in an orphanage by his terminally ill mother at age 5 and now appr This is an amazing story which includes adventure/ intrigue/ mystery/ fantasy/history. The setting is a coastal town in early America where immigrants and goods flow back and forth. The first 3 chapters introduce the reader to the main characters individually: Giuseppe (sold by his uncle to an evil padrone, Stephano, who took him to America and used him to make money by playing his violin on the street corners), Frederick (placed in an orphanage by his terminally ill mother at age 5 and now apprenticed to kind Master Branch), and Hannah (a maid at the hotel). The rest of the book brings these young characters together circumstantially until they become great friends and protectors. The reader comes to care about the characters very much. Each has a dream that s/he couldn't realize individually (Giuseppe...to return to his family in Italy, Frederick...to find out about his mother and become a journeyman clockmaker, Hannah...to make money to help her ill father and her family), but as they support each other, the book comes to a satisfying conclusion.

The cover of the automaton is jump-off-the-shelf intriguing. The continuous suspense will keep students reading despite the book's 386 pages. The plot is well constructed, easy to follow as it weaves the stories of the three children together. My only quibble with the book, and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars is the overuse of figurative language. When the similes and metaphors take the reader's mind away from the plot and focus him on the language used, it has a jarring effect and doesn't serve the book well. Both on p. 173, we find, "Hannah's heart fluttered in her chest like a dying moth trapped in a streetlamp." and "Her laugh was low and slow, like drips of poison into someone's food."

I would use this book with 5th through 8th graders, though it would be appropriate for high level 4th graders. The action and dialogue will make this a good read-aloud. Because the concept of the golem is so central to the story, I would recommend using David Wisniewski's Caldecott Winner, Golem, as a companion book.

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Oct 04, 2010 Dest rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adventure, magical-realism, historical-fiction, new-york

Shades of Hugo Cabret, Thief Lord, and Oliver Twist, with a sort of Gangs of New York setting, brought together in a kind of magical, sad, but ultimately hopeful, plot. Once I was about halfway through, I found this big, ambitious first novel hard to put down.

It's basically about three kids with very hard lives wandering around a big 19th Century New England city (presumably New York, though it isn't actually identified as such). They're each deeply troubled in some way, and each yearns for a s ...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Lisa Nocita rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, ya-2011

I find automatons creepy let me just say and my opinion has not wavered since finishing this novel! However, I did find The Clockwork Three" to be a lively and engaging novel, weaving together the stories of three young characters whose destines are entwined. Set early in the Victorian era, Kirby brings together three rather disparate characters who are down on their luck,if indeed they ever had any, and sets them to the task of unravelling a rather pressing mystery that could be the key to a be ...more

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Dec 01, 2010 Wendy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010-award-possibilities

While the author's guidance-counselor hand is very heavy in this book, it's intriguing--I read the first half in one big gulp. I loved the alternate-universe Gotham City/Metropolis-style setting, and that's what I especially kept reading for. Ersatz penicillin annoyed me, and I thought he shouldn't have mentioned Edison by name--I think he was the only real-life contemporary figure named. ...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Robynn marked it as to-read

Recommended by http://byhopewesteer.wordpress.com/ Tales of an Elementary School Librarian ...more

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Oct 01, 2014 Astrid Lim rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: children, adventures, fantasy, middle-grade

I quite enjoyed this book about friendship of 3 kids living their struggled lives. A very neat story, combining three different main characters who have equal voices in the book. Combination of fantasy, family/friendship story, a mystery of hidden treasure, and a charming setting of a fictional small town in America made this book a good -not great, but good- read for all children/middle grade book lovers.

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Feb 09, 2011 Shauna rated it really liked it

Shelves: family-read-aloud

I liked this book, the children not so much. I enjoyed the writing, but it did get a bit slow in some parts. I think the children would have enjoyed it more if we had been reading more consistently. We just had so many out of the ordinary nighttime things in the past month. It took a long time to get through the book.

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