Timeless : Diego and the rangers of the Vastlantic by Armand Baltazar

Harper Collins, 2017. ISBN 9780008258955
(Age: 10-14) Highly recommended. What would the world look like if the past, present and future collided together? Timeless : Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic describes that world in words and approximately 150 beautifully executed illustrations.
Diego Ribera lives in a merged world, created during the catastrophic Time Collision. At the beginning of the novel, Diego's parents who have come from two different time periods, are celebrating his thirteenth birthday. His father Santiago, a gifted engineer, gives Diego his present, a gravity board which allows him to fly a skateboard type device. More importantly, Diego also learns of another gift, a special inherited skill that allows him to develop the same amazing talents of his father.
Santiago, New Chicago's top engineer, is abducted by the evil Aeternum and his followers, who are trying to alter the Time Collision's world. It is up to Diego, his teenage friends and a small band of pirates to try to rescue his father and other prisoners.
This novel is an epic accomplishment for Armand Baltazar, a former art director for Disney and Pixar. The intensely coloured plates show a world where dinosaurs walk alongside robots and steam punk, fantastical machines exist beside WWII planes.
Illustrations imitate a movie and students who have enjoyed this same cinematic style in Brian Selznick's, The invention of Hugo Cabret will appreciate this colourful version.
This is obviously the first book in a series as the final pages reveal a surprise that will encourage the reader to continue with this fantasy/science fiction world.
I highly recommend this novel for students from middle primary school to early high school years.
Jane Moore