A rollicking, affectionate parody of fantasy role-playing.
Five heroes face their most trying quest yet: surviving middle school.
In the real world of Bríandalör, Albiorix and his band of fellow adventurers thwart evil forces, but, once a week, on Thursday nights, they meet at the local tavern for a game of Homerooms & Hall Passes, their fantasy role-playing escape. With dice and their imaginations, they transform into students who worry about class elections, algebra tests, spirit week, and the dreaded five-paragraph essay instead of magic, traps, and treasure. However, even with all his dedication to the game, Albiorix never could have predicted he and his friends would end up transported by a curse into the world of J.A. Dewar Middle School. Now they must struggle through the final two months of the semester in the lives of their characters or risk disappearing forever. Apart from remarks about pointy ears, shiny hair, and muscles, O’Donnell doesn’t give the characters much physical description, but the cover illustration and naming conventions suggest that both the Bríandalörians and middle schoolers are fairly diverse. Every chapter opens with an excerpt from the Homerooms & Hall Passes rule book, capturing the spirit of their tabletop role-playing game and foreshadowing upcoming encounters. Each adventurer learns a different lesson and grows through their humorous attempts at embodying their game personas. The villain is satisfyingly over-the-top, and his defeat befits the book’s silly sense of humor.
A rollicking, affectionate parody of fantasy role-playing. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-287214-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic.
A loyal black kitten’s boy is under supernatural attack.
Eleven-month-old Nimbus loves Fletcher, the boy who nursed her back to health following life-threatening injuries. When Fletcher becomes curious about a strange jar and opens it, releasing a terrible goblin, loyal Nim protects Fletcher, taking heavy damage in the process. But Fletcher’s aunt, who’s caring for him over spring break, believes Nim attacked Fletcher and dumps her far from home. Rhett, a stylish rat with star quality, befriends injured Nim and leads her to a witch’s house. While the witch cares for Nim, the witch’s cats (maternal Fern, bookish Rochester, standoffish Bianca, and openly hostile Abraxas) teach Nim important cat skills. She also discovers she has a supernatural ability: In destroying one eye of the nightmare demon in the fight to protect Fletcher, Nim gained its “dream sight.” But she also learns it might come back for Fletcher, who no longer has Nim to protect him, posing a time-sensitive, high-stakes threat. Even though the witch’s home is nice and magic itself seems to be telling her to stay put, Nim wants to find a way back to Fletcher. As a hero, Nimbus is as gritty and determined as she is adorable. Tear-jerker moments explore pet abandonment—readers may want their own pets on hand to hug—all the way through the magical, action-packed finale. Fletcher and the witch read white.
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780062680372
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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