SKY SHIFTER

Fantasy adventure spins between terror and comedy when teen siblings battle supernatural forces lurking in the forest and their computers.

When 15-year-old Logan and his 13-year-old sister Mindy wake up after a neighborhood picnic, they find themselves in a strange house near a beach and woods. Their first thoughts are practical—“Where are Mom and Dad?” Their next are childish; they tease each other about the funny pajamas they find themselves in. The pair soon discovers that while familiar kids live in nearby houses, there are no adults. In Lord of the Flies fashion, the youngsters split into teams of good guys and bad guys. Generous and brave Logan realizes that he can magically enter the computer in his bedroom, play games and then return. Things go horribly wrong when Kyle, the neighborhood bully, sets evil in motion after being tempted by the shadowy Silhouettes who visit at dawn and dusk. Animals in the nearby woods speak to each other about the children and some try to help. When Logan and Mindy become trapped inside the computer world, the sinister Lord Torrent of the Deep Shadows hatches a plot to gain a powerful staff hidden there by the mysterious Bill Purdy. Various pixel characters the siblings meet while inside the computer (including versions of their parents, an uncle, the bumbling comic Detective Danby, the hapless gambler Nick Roman and a fortune teller) help and hinder their struggle to get home to the “real” world. After a satisfying conclusion, the promise of more adventures looms when the newly forgiven Kyle muses that “deep down, he knew he had enjoyed being a bully….something in his brain triggered happiness when he inflicted grief on others.” This well-written tale combines two imaginary worlds popular with younger readers—fantasy and computer games. Plus, the tale isn’t really over; this is the first of an eight-book series. No need to say goodbye to Mindy and Logan, a young pair with the smarts and spunk to overcome whatever the future brings.

An imaginative, fun adventure that’s just the beginning of a new amalgamated mythology.