SECRETS OF THE UNDER-UNDER WORLD: WATER

In this middle-grade debut and series launch, an orphan girl stuck in a subterranean world searches for a way home.

Sam has an awful lot of responsibilities for a 12-year-old. She cares for her little brother, Darby, who needs meds for recurring fevers, and for their guardian, Aunt C, who seemingly has bouts of dementia. One day, as a storm hits their North American town, the earth shakes, and Sam falls through a crack in the ground. Though initially alone in a gloomy, dank place, she quickly befriends others who tell her she’s in Under-Under. The leader down here, the Great Hildinski, surely can help Sam get back home, but this radiant, wooden-legged woman seems convinced that the tween stranger is a thief. Indeed, someone has stolen a “slice” of Under-Under’s solar-powered sun. Once Sam decides that recovering this sun piece will win over the Great Hildinski, she teams up with new friends as well as Darby and her cat, Gemini, who’ve somehow wound up belowground, too. But the thieves, who are also stealing Under-Under’s precious water, make a frightening bunch. Whatever’s short opening installment has a wonderful young hero. Sam is smart and softhearted, even when her family frustrates her. She’s witty, too, as when a character questions her courage with, “I thought you had some spunk,” and she retorts, in effect: Spunk, yes. Death wish, no. The story spotlights Sam’s journey as she picks up some helpful skills and periodically returns to the world above as an influential general threatens her country. Supporting characters entertain, particularly Darby and Gemini, who make the most of their occasional appearances. The author’s rough, almost childlike artwork flaunts a dark but colorful palette, making simple depictions of wolves and fish catch readers’ eyes. The ending, sadly, is a bit anticlimactic, though a sequel follows.

A winsome tween protagonist steers this fun, quiet fantasy.