History is now in the hands of two orphans, a border collie, and a depressed inventor...
For as long as Johnny and Ella have known him, Shawn has been that odd but sad man who lives in the shed at the orphanage run by his iron-fisted sister. Every day, the kids watch from the windows as he walks the dog, fixes things, and takes his sister’s belittling with only a sigh.
Everything changes the night Johnny and Ella decide to investigate lights flashing from the shed. The night they discover Shawn’s time machine, which sends them all to medieval England – to a time of mighty castles, jousting tournaments, and wild animals.
But when they witness the injustice of a greedy lord and his champion knight, a simple jump to the past turns into a seemingly impossible quest to save the lives of innocent villagers – as well as their own. All complicated by Shawn’s odd behavior and terrible manners, leaving it up to Johnny and Ella to teach him how to behave properly.
With a combination of modern technology, ingenuity, and trickery, can two orphans, a dog, and a sad inventor change the course of history?
History is now in the hands of two orphans, a border collie, and a depressed inventor...
For as long as Johnny and Ella have known him, Shawn has been that odd but sad man who lives in the shed at the orphanage run by his iron-fisted sister. Every day, the kids watch from the windows as he walks the dog, fixes things, and takes his sister’s belittling with only a sigh.
Everything changes the night Johnny and Ella decide to investigate lights flashing from the shed. The night they discover Shawn’s time machine, which sends them all to medieval England – to a time of mighty castles, jousting tournaments, and wild animals.
But when they witness the injustice of a greedy lord and his champion knight, a simple jump to the past turns into a seemingly impossible quest to save the lives of innocent villagers – as well as their own. All complicated by Shawn’s odd behavior and terrible manners, leaving it up to Johnny and Ella to teach him how to behave properly.
With a combination of modern technology, ingenuity, and trickery, can two orphans, a dog, and a sad inventor change the course of history?
“SHAWN!” Regina screamed from the open window leading to the yard.
         Johnny, who had been lying in his bed reading a fascinating book on Medieval England, rushed to the door and opened it just a crack. Very carefully, his bright green eyes peeked through the opening. On the other side of the corridor, he could see that his little sister, Ella, had also heard the commotion and poked her little head out to see what was going on.
         Regina will be mad if she sees her, Johnny thought. When their eyes met across the hall, he tried to motion for her to get back into her room, but Ella just grinned at him. Johnny gave up. His sister could be a little too brave for her own good sometimes, but at least she had the good sense to stay quiet. After all, few people would ever dare get in Regina’s way when she was in this kind of a mood.
         Regina leaned her stout, pear-shaped body halfway out of the window and screamed again. “SHAWN!” The force of the scream rippled through her like a small earthquake, making the teacups on the nearby shelf rattle.
         At the far end of the yard, beyond the little duck pond, the rose garden, and the perfectly trimmed lawn, there was a dirty, brown shed. It stood in a shady cluster of trees in a corner of this otherwise gorgeous garden – like a hairy wart on a beautiful face. This is where Shawn lived. Shawn was Regina’s brother.
         As it happened, Johnny’s window overlooked that filthy old shed, so he glanced back and forth, trying to keep one eye on Regina and one eye on the garden. After another minute of screaming, the door of the shed creaked open, and a plump, freckled face poked out. He looked a little like Regina, except that the tufts of hair that still grew along the side of his big balding head were orange and stuck out in every direction imaginable. He rubbed sleep out of his tired eyes and then stepped out so Regina (and Johnny) could see him from the window. “What is it?” he asked, dragging his feet as he walked outside. He spoke slowly and in a flat voice, and he followed his question with a sigh, as though the mere act of asking it was both exhausting and pointless.
         “REALLY?” Regina screamed. “You were supposed to walk the dog an hour ago. Poor little Ginny has been sitting here whining for ages.”
         Johnny and Ella exchanged glances. They had been playing with Ginny until a few minutes ago, and the black and white border collie was now happily asleep in a corner of the kitchen. Johnny wanted to say something, but he was too afraid of Regina.
         Shawn mumbled something under his breath, but Johnny could not make out the words.
         Apparently, Regina did not hear it either. “What did you say?” she shouted, leaning even farther out of the window.
         “Nothing,” Shawn said, lowering his head and staring straight at his toes.
         “You’d better not be talking back to me,” said Regina. “Ginny is a champion herding dog. A champion! And she needs her exercise if she is to stay that way.”
         Johnny rolled his eyes. Regina took every opportunity to remind everyone about Ginny’s accomplishments, and she had even made a big display case with all the dog’s trophies. Even though Ginny was the best in the whole country at herding sheep and cattle, to the kids the beautiful black and white border collie was just a friendly dog who liked belly rubs, treats, and playing fetch.
         Shawn just stood there staring at the ground while she scolded him, like a schoolchild being yelled at by a teacher. Even though he was an adult, Regina treated him worse than she did any of the kids at the orphanage – and that was saying something. When she finally finished, Shawn sighed again and said, “I suppose I’ll walk the dog then.”
         “Good!” said Regina. “And make sure you don’t drag those muddy shoes in the house! I just had it cleaned!” With that, she slammed the window shut and spun around, noticing Ella. “What are you looking at? Do you want more chores?”
         Johnny and Ella quickly jumped back in their bedrooms and closed the doors. Neither of them wanted to be given even more chores – after all, they were the ones who had just finished cleaning the entire house. All the kids who lived here at Regina’s orphanage had to work constantly. Every day, they had to mop floors, vacuum carpets, wash dishes, do laundry, dust, tidy up, and even cook. After that, it was time to do homework, so by the end of the day they barely had an hour or two to play and have fun.
         Johnny moved to his bedroom window. He lived in a tiny room, no bigger than a closet, but at least it was his very own. All the other kids had to share rooms, including Ella, who lived together with three other girls.
         From the window, Johnny could see Shawn trudging up to the door of the orphanage. He opened it, taking great care not to step inside the house, and called to Ginny. Johnny watched as Shawn put the dog on a leash and began to walk in circles on the lawn. It always looked so silly, keeping the dog on a leash inside the garden, but Regina was crazy about those roses and would not allow the dog to roam free. For half an hour Shawn walked in a circle with the dog, his head held low, staring at the grass in front of him.
         Johnny always felt sorry for Shawn. At least the kids had rooms inside the house, cramped though they were. Poor Shawn was stuck in a shed and was never allowed inside unless something needed to be fixed. Regina also made sure that he never got to speak to anybody.
         “You’re not to talk to Shawn,” she had said when Johnny first arrived at the orphanage. “He doesn’t like people and particularly bratty little kids like you!”
         Neither Johnny nor Ella believed her. Shawn never seemed mean or angry, just sad, scared, and lonely. He was a grownup, but in many ways, he seemed more like a timid child. Recently, they had grown particularly curious after noticing weird lights and flashes coming from the shed at night. Regina had dismissed it by saying, “Shawn is crazy, and he likes to make useless things. Just stay away!”
         That had only made Johnny even more interested to discover what was going on. Was Shawn an inventor or a mad scientist? If so, what on earth could he be making in there? As he watched Shawn walking around the yard with Ginny, his big round belly bopping up and down as he circled the lawn for the hundredth time, Johnny decided that tonight he was going to find out. Tonight, he would sneak over there and peek in the forbidden shed.
How do you spend your Friday nights? Do you like to binge watch movies on Netflix or Disney? I personally love to curl up with a good book such as Shawn From the Shed: Book 1 A Most Unusual Friday Knight by Alan Frost.
Meet Johnny, who enjoys reading books on medieval England and lives in an orphanage with his younger sister Ella. The orphanage is run by an evil, mean, ogre of a woman named Regina. She makes the children mop floors, vacuum the carpets, wash the dishes, do the laundry, dust, cook, and then they get to do their homework. Of course there's barely any time left to play or have fun.
Regina has a brother named Shawn whom she allows to live outside in the tool shed. He isn't allowed to come inside except to fix things (I told you she's mean). There's also an adorable black and white border collie named Ginny. She's isn't any ole dog though, she's a champion and even has trophies to prove it. In spite of her fame however, she still likes belly rubs, treats, and playing fetch.
Strange things have been going on lately. Weird lights have been coming from the shed at night. Johnny and Ella decide to investigate. They peak through the windows of the shed and see a strange machine connected to a computer. It's a sort of electric engine the size of a lawnmower. It also has a mirror frame attached to it, but minus the mirror and it's covered in wires. Sparks shoot across the frame like tiny lightening bolts. In the middle of all of this, they see Shawn typing on a keyboard. He picks up a wrench and throws it into the machine and it vanishes into thin air. Ginny, the border collie gets excited, runs in through the open door, and right through the frame of the machine and she too vanishes!
To where did she go? Or is the better question to when did she go? Shawn tells them that Ginny has been sent back to England in the year 1100.
Medieval England. A time before cell phones, televisions, cars, shoelaces, or even chocolate (poor things). It was a time of brave knights, power-hungry kings, and big stone castles. And now it's a time in which Ginny is trapped and it's up to Johnny, Ella, and Shawn to save her!
I like reading books like this. They have the power to be fun and exciting and at the same time educational. Historical fantasies if you will. When I was younger I enjoyed a television show called. Voyagers were a young boy traveled back through time and used his knowledge of history to correct anything that might be historically inaccurate. Shawn From the Shed also reminds me of the Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne.
I give Shawn From the Shed: Book 1 A Most Unusual Friday Knight (a middle grade time travel novel) by Alan Frost a 5 out of 5 stars. For bringing excitement to the middle ages time period and breathing life into history. I really enjoyed the description of the jousting tournament between Johnny and the mighty knight Sir Lancaster. Will Johnny triumph and save the day?
Who knows the lengths evil people will go to keep their power and their wealth....