WISH STAR WORLD

In Burnett’s debut middle-grade fantasy, earthling twins are stranded on a faraway planet teeming with dangerous mythical beings.

Phoebe and Clarence Davey may be fraternal twins, but these tweens could not be more different. Phoebe is the outgoing athletic one, and her brother is the bookworm that bullies target. They’re both excited when a carnival rolls into their town—it’s there that a soothsayer tells them that their late grandparents Horatio and Selia Ugstad possessed a “powerful object.” The couple had been magicians who used a magic coin in their act, likely the same coin Phoebe and Clarence discover at the Ugstads’ abandoned cabin. When this coin opens a portal, Lodurr, an imp, passes into their world. When they find a way back to Lodurr’s “Wish Star World,” they’re stuck, running across all sorts of beings, from fairies and wizards to menacing lizards. The two will have to find someone to trust if they want any chance of getting back to Earth. The author’s impressive worldbuilding delivers enthralling details, especially regarding the reputedly extinct imps and their six Wish Coins (“Being the oldest society on the planet, imps were a powerful and gifted people capable of natural magic and life longevity”). The story drops Phoebe and Clarence into a motley cast of pirates, gargoyles, and merpeople. The twins make great leads; they squabble just like siblings do, but their closeness is without question. It’s Lodurr, however, who steals the book: In a highlight of the story, the twins have no choice but to take Lodurr to school (as their cousin), where he stirs up trouble in fun, unexpected ways. The author describes environments well and smartly simplifies them as the story unfurls across planets light-years apart. As some plot and character avenues are left unexplored, it seems clear that Burnett has a series in mind.

A diverting mashup of adventure, SF, and familiar creatures.