The Vanishing Sculptor by Donita K. Paul

Tipper, a young Emerlindian, has been responsible for her family’s upkeep since her sculptor father vanished several years back. It’s been years since she last saw her father, and her mother's, the Lady Peg, mental health has slowly been deteriorating since then, so she has had to single-handedly do everything in her power to maintain her family’s good name. She has even had to sell her father’s beloved sculptures for money in order to pay their servants and purchase food. Until the night her father, Verrin Schope, returns with tales of wondrous places, gateways, and the fact that he keeps appearing and disappearing and then reappearing through her mothers closet. It seems the gateway that brought him back home is unstable and keeps bringing him back and forth through time which is ultimately affecting his health in the process. Yet there is hope as three of his sculptures can save him, the only problem, Tipper obviously sold these pieces and she has no idea whom the buyers were or even in which town or village they might be able to start looking in. Thus the adventure begins for Tipper, Verrin and Tipper’s faithful guardian, Beccaroon (who’s a five-foot tall parrot), as they set forth on this journey.

Since I have never read any of Ms. Paul’s "DragonKeeper Chronicles", a lot of the terms used in this story were new to me. Luckily, there was a handy glossary at the back of the book that I kept referring to for help. And I also want to make note that there were some inconsistencies with the map and the story itself - so I was a little lost at times as to where exactly the characters were in the story when compared to the map, but other than that, I can definitely see the appeal this story would have on children and adults alike. The story has an undeniable Christian message, but it is subtle enough for a non-believer to also enjoy the book.

The characters were quirky, funny and quite endearing and Ms. Paul’s writing builds a world that you can definitely envision. I recommend this for young and older readers alike, or anyone who enjoys science fiction, good writing and magical characters.