Summary: Everett and Bea must find their father, who has gone missing after a disastrous train wreck. They embark on their adventure with the help of Ronald, Jack, and Dot, authors and protectors of the Ink.

Notes: What if the best authors in the world used a special Ink? What if gargoyles were alive? And what if your father was somehow mixed up in it all? I love this book! It is historical because it is set in a real time period with a real train wreck and some real people. "Jack" is the nickname C. S. Lewis gave himself as a child. Ronald is J. R. R. Tolkien. Dot is Dorothy Sayers. Fiction because I don't think they knew Scottish giants, flew on oversized pigeons, or fought live gargoyles. Even though Everett is eleven and trying to rescue his father, the author, J. D. Peabody, does not put him into the kids-saving-the-world-without-the-grown-ups-help trope. What a relief! But he doesn't stop there. The grown-ups who help him are (fictionalized) C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Dorothy Sayers! I have read a lot by the first two authors, and the book does a fantastic job of imitating their writing voices. Like how Tolkien goes on and on about all sorts of interesting things in Lord of the Rings (usually history) and how Lewis ponders deep theological questions. I haven't read anything by Dorothy Sayers, but if you have and read this book, let me know if it imitates her voice well. Also, if you like this book, check out "Once a Queen" by Sarah Arthur. (and vice versa)

Age of Main Character: Everett is eleven and Bea is younger.

Violence: A giant train wreck in which lots of people die (we don't see them die), the father gets kidnapped, there is a sea monster, live gargoyles called Blotters, a battle on a rooftop (another by a river), general escapades, and so on. Not gruesome.

Romance: A little at the end. The housekeeper likes the mail man...who has a very, very fast bicycle.

Scary Themes: The aforesaid violence...and the Blotters are trying to hunt down the children...and their house burns down.

Genre: Low Fantasy/ Historical Fiction