Time Travel Twins: The Maya Sacrifice

LoveReading4Kids Says

This is book number four in this excellent time-travel historical adventure series and sees twins Scarlett and Thomas visit the Maya city of Tikal (in present-day Guatemala) in 859. They are on the hunt for cacao beans to make a restorative hot chocolate for their grandfather, who is poorly.

Thomas, the more reckless of the two, goes first and is taken prisoner by villagers for stealing from the king, who owns all the cacao. Scarlett follows to help bring him back and finds herself in the palace with the king’s daughter. How easy will it be to save Thomas though when he’s on the losing team in the ceremonial ball game and about to be sacrificed?

As ever, the story sparkles, full of detail and incident as well as believable characters, and provides readers with a great sense of Maya daily life, rich and poor. Historical notes provide extra information about the Maya and their civilisation and point out that the story is set in the same year as the first book in the series, The Viking Attack. There’s even a recipe for authentic Maya hot chocolate.

Reviewed by Andrea Reece
Andrea Reece has spent almost her entire working life in children’s books, first as publisher, latterly as consultant, project manager and critic.
More reviews by Andrea Reece

About Time Travel Twins: The Maya Sacrifice

Twins Scarlett and Thomas have been learning about the Maya at school. They even had a go at making hot chocolate from cacao beans. When Grandad falls ill, the twins know what the perfect cure will be - hot chocolate! They nervously borrow Grandad's time machine and travel back to the time of the Mayas. Scarlett pretends to be a god, and gets taken in by the royal family. Thomas is not quite so lucky, and ends up playing for his life in a brutal Mayan ball game.

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