Reader's Review: Dr. Fuddle and the Gold Baton is an entertaining new children's fantasy novel.

By Donna Burtch

It follows five contemporary, middle-school aged American kids on a journey that sets them against a backdrop (a magical land called Orphea) that is part 18th century European high-society and part classical Greek mythology. The result is unlike anything else around; it is innovative, intelligent, and extremely charming. 

It is a must-read for anyone who loves music and/or an imaginative, other-worldly adventure. This delightful book rescues classical music from the long-abandoned trunk in Grandma's attic, packed with moth balls amid other `relics' such corsets and petticoats, and dusts it off for the 21st Century. It presents classical music as fresh, relevant, high-tech, and most importantly to teens, cool. One of Dr. Woodruff's stated goals is to instill a love for classical music in generations to come. This story (all while entertaining and provoking thought) will surely succeed in that respect.