Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Freefall (Tunnels)
Fiction Series
For ages 12 and up
Scholastic, 2010 ISBN: 978-0545138772
When we last saw Will, Elliot, and Chester they were falling into a seemingly bottomless black hole called the Pore. Far below the planet’s surface, the Pore is a terrible place, and all the people who live in this subterranean world believe that a fall into the Pore is a death sentence. Somehow, by some miracle, Will and his friends survive, though Elliot is seriously injured. Unfortunately, Will’s mortal enemies, the Rebecca twins, also survive falling into the Pore, and the evil twins are determined to make Will pay for his meddling – permanently.
As soon as Will and his friends realize that the Rebeccas are alive and well they set about doing what they can to outwit them. The girls carry two vials with them, one of which contains a deadly virus. The Rebeccas and their people, the Styx, plan to unleash this virus on the surface so that they can rid the planet of “Topsoilers” and thus claim the surface world for themselves.
What makes this battle all the harder is the fact that the Styx are taking control of things above ground as well as beneath it. They are stepping up their campaign, and before long, Will and his allies will have nowhere left to go.
This third Tunnels title is, if this is possible, even more compelling and exciting than the first two titles in the series were. We learn more about the characters, and certain mysteries that we read about in the earlier books are explored further. As before, we are left hanging and wondering what is going to happen next.
