title: The Book of Dead Days
author:  Marcus Sedgwick 
description: *Starred Review* Gr. 6-9. Set during the dead days between Christmas and New Year's in a crumbling, old, European-like city, this story is as dark as a winter's night, illuminated with flashes of shooting-star brilliance. Once an urchin, Boy now belongs to Valerian, a magician. Although the master treats the child poorly, Boy follows his orders dutifully; Valerian is all he has got. So when Valerian reveals that he has only a few days to live (a pact with the devil is coming due), Boy winds his way through the fetid stink of the city, following Valerian's mysterious and dangerous instructions in a race to save his master's life. Sedgwick's highly visual writing makes for a true movie of the mind. It is reminiscent of Philip Pullman's work, with each detail adding to the fullness of Sedgwick's alternative world. Also like Pullman, Sedgwick draws characters so magnetic that readers will find it hard to look away. The plot is convoluted in places, information is dispensed a bit too slowly, and a few key points want explanation (about one, a character says, "We may never know"). Perhaps the loose ends will be tied up in the sequel, which is planned for 2005 (hopefully a note about it will be on the final dust jacket). This is a haunting novel, and the possibility of more is definitely enticing. <i>Ilene Cooper</i><br /><i>Copyright  American Library Association. All rights reserved</i>
zlib_text: ALSO BY ALICE SEBOLD
  
  Lucky
  
  Copyright
  
  Copyright © 2002 by Alice Sebold
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
  any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and
  retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by
  a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
  
  First Edition
  
  The characters and events in this book are fictitious.
  
  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not
  intended by the author.
  
  Hachette Book Group,
  
  237 Park Avenue
  
  New York, NY 10017,
  
  Visit our website at
  [www.HachetteBookGroup.com](http://www.HachetteBookGroup.com).
  
  First eBook Edition: August 2002
  
  ISBN: 978-0-7595-2773-7
  
  Contents
  
  ALSO BY ALICE SEBOLD
  
  COPYRIGHT
  
  ONE
  
  TWO
  
  THREE
  
  FOUR
  
  FIVE
  
  SIX
  
  SEVEN
  
  EIGHT
  
  NINE
  
  TEN
  
  ELEVEN
  
  TWELVE
  
  THIRTEEN
  
  FOURTEEN
  
  FIFTEEN
  
  SIXTEEN
  
  SEVENTEEN
  
  EIGHTEEN
  
  NINETEEN
  
  TWENTY
  
  TWENTY-ONE
  
  TWENTY-TWO
  
  TWENTY-THREE
  
  BONES
  
  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  
  Always, Glen
  
  In