by Simone Spiteri
illustrated by Moira Scicluna Zahra
The next time you're stuck in traffic on your way to Valletta, try and imagine what the city would have looked like straight after the Great Siege: barren, wild, hilly and pristine, bar for a lonely Fort St Elmo.
This is exactly what two 12-year-olds witnessed when they time-travelled to the day of the inauguration of the laying of Valletta's first stone. Their undercover visit - thanks to a time-travelling machine in their secret basement at home - coincided with a slight snag: Valletta's architect had been abducted and there's a ploy to depose of Grandmaster De Vallette. What now? Will the children manage to protect a crucial part of our history?
With its fast-paced plot Il-Vinkulari: Il-Muftieħ tal-Passat is simply unputdownable, and this much-awaited sequel to Il-Vinkulari: Il-Vjaġġaturi taż-Żmien, will certainly not disappoint its fans. Twin-cousins Alex and Maia try their utmost to fulfil their duties as protectors of time - but unbeknown to them they are fighting secret forces with ulterior motives.
In this second book in the Vinkulari series, author Simone Spiteri, who as a child always wanted a time-travelling machine, gives a realistic insight into Maltese life 400 years ago. "What's not to love about the intriguing, cosmopolitan, vibrant atmosphere of everyday life in 16th century Birgu?" she said. It was a time Malta was experiencing a burst of diversity of languages and cultures.
She also wanted to explore the notion that the Knights, always portrayed as "rigid, serious looking guys in metal armour scowling at us from history books" were human beings who experienced pain and joy.
Although the story itself is fiction, Spiteri researched the period thoroughly and children will be reading about the past without even realising they're reading history - even because the focus will be away from the usual big events documented in history books. "The spirit in which the books are written is precisely to understand that every single piece of history in our past is important," she said.
Spiteri believes that time-travel can provide a perspective on contemporary problems by throwing light on how things were in the past and can be food for thought on political or social issues.
The book also highlights the importance of personal and collective memory. "I think it is pretty important in an age where everything seems to be so instantaneous and disposable at the click of a button."
As in the first book, her tale is visually lit with little icon illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. The drawings by award-winning illustrator Moira Scicluna Zahra, give the reader a hint of what's in store in the coming pages.
The first book in the series, Il-Vinkulari: Il-Vjaġġaturi taż-Żmien shot to the top of the bestselling list and had to be reprinted as it became the top selling book in Maltese for children aged nine to 12. "I am looking forward to Book 2 of this series, as much as I looked forward to the Harry Potter sequels!" said reader Pippa Corrado, age 11.
'Il-Vinkulari: Il-Muftieħ tal-Passat' is available from all leading bookshops or directly from merlinpublishers.com