Product Description

Alexei Romanov, heir to the Russian throne, is in deadly danger.

It¹s 1916, the struggling Russian people are tired of war and are blaming their Romanov rulers for it, and some are secretly plotting to murder the young heir and his family. But nobody outside the palace knows that Alexei suffers from a terrible bleeding disease, hemophilia, which threatens to finish him off even before the family¹s enemies can. The only person able to help Alexei is the evil and powerful religious mystic Rasputin -- and now Rasputin is trying to kill him too! Desperate, Alexei flees through time to New York City in 2010, using a method taught to him by the mad monk himself.

In New York, Alexei meets smart and sassy Varda Rosenberg, and discovers she is a distant cousin. Varda is working on a gene therapy cure for hemophilia, as the disease still runs in the family. When Alexei learns that history shows that his entire family will be assassinated in 1918, he and Varda travel back in time to the Russian Revolution, with Rasputin hot on their heels. Will they be able to rescue Alexei¹s family before it¹s too late?

Staton Rabin lets Alexei tell his own riveting story in a rousing adventure with stunning surprises -- a movingly authentic look at royalty and revolution in the days of the tsars.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40804 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416902089
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 6–8—Historical fiction, fantasy, and horror are woven together with hints of sex and romance in this improbable story of Alexei, the last heir to the throne of Russia. Tsarevich Alexei suffers from hemophilia, and his frequent bouts with this painful disease often bring him to death's door. Fortunately Father Grigory, otherwise known as Rasputin, using horrifying hocus pocus, has been able to save him. In one of his cures, he tells Alexei that his "blood-river" can move him back and forth in time and place, a useful bit of knowledge. After Alexei secretly sees Rasputin intimidating the tsarina, he confides in a relative who makes an assassination attempt—Rasputin is poisoned, shot, declared dead, and thrown into a river. Unfortunately the dead man climbs out of the river and chases Alexei, who tries the trick of time travel and ends up in one of New York City's rivers in 2010. He's resuscitated on the riverbank by a future relative, a high school girl who just happens to be researching hemophilia. Of course, Rasputin appears as the high school janitor and the story lurches on. Everyone time travels back to Russia where Rasputin is finally killed, and Alexei and his future relative attempt to rescue the royal family, now imprisoned. It's all too much. In the end, history kind of takes over, but not quite. Except for Alexei, the characters are flat, the writing confusing and clunky, and the plot more suited to a genre movie than a book. Clearly the author did a great deal of research; the end matter is copious and interesting.—Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
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Review
"?(A) fine historical time-travel adventure?This is a great trip for lovers of historical fiction."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author
Staton Rabin has a B.F.A. in film from New York University. In addition to writing for children, she is a screenwriter; a popular speaker about the art, craft, and business of writing for film; and a veteran story analyst for Scr(i)pt magazine, screenwriters, and producers. Staton Rabin lives in Irvington, New York.

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
THE CURSE OF THE ROMANOVS by Staton Rabin is an absolutely spell-binding story of Alexei Romanov and the Russian Revolution.

The story begins in Russia in 1916, where Alexei Romanov is the hemophiliac heir to the Russian throne. As a hemophiliac, Alexei cannot stop bleeding, and the only person who can seem to heal him is Father Grigory, otherwise known as Rasputin. So many of the Russian people despise Father Grigory and spread gossip about his drinking and womanizing, but Alexei's mother, the Tsarina, comforts Alexei by telling him that these are all lies and that Father Grigory is their dear friend.

Alexei believes his mother, until one night when he hears a conversation between his mother and Father Grigory that challenges everything he has been told. Not knowing where to turn, Alexei confides in his cousin, who decides to murder Father Grigory. But killing Father Grigory is not as easy as it appears, and when Alexei fears for his own life, he flees to the year 2010, using a method that Father Grigory himself taught Alexei.

In the future, Alexei meets a distant relative, Varda Rosenberg, who is currently working on a cure for hemophilia. When Alexei learns about the Russian Revolution and the fate of his family, he is determined to travel back to the past and rescue them from a horrible death at the hands of the Bolsheviks. With Varda's help, Alexei travels back into the past in a desperate attempt to save his family, his honor, and his way of life. But will he be able to change the course of history?

Staton Rabin somehow mixes the genres of science fiction and historical fiction to create a novel unlike any I have ever read. So much of the story is fact-based that you will find yourself believing every word. Rabin captures the voice of a young Alexei so well, as the book is written in diary form. At the end of the novel, author's notes clear up any misconceptions and separate fact from fiction.

So many stories have been written about the Romanov family, including the Disney movie Anastasia (Family Fun Edition w/Bartok the Magnificent). But Rabin's take on this famous story is so different than all of the others, it is definitely worth reading!

Reviewed by: Amber Gibson

Hmmm . . . .
As the Romanov family is one of favorite subjects in history I picked up this book. While it was a great story (historical fiction account), I didn't like that the author towards the end of the book portrayed Rasputin in a good light. However, the author did a great job and should be commended on all her hard work researching the family and everything surrounding them during their time.

Fantastic book for anyone over the age of 10!
This book is a work of art! It combines science fiction, non-fiction and fiction to create a wonderful tale, another perspective of the Romanovs! This book is not just for teens!