The story: Albert, Birdie and Leroy discover they're all Balance Keepers, a mysterious group that lives at The Core and fights to keep the Earth in Balance. There's some serious training to do before they can tackle the Imbalance that threatens Calderon (one of the three Realms that exist under the surface of our Earth that most humans recognize) but time is running out, and when it does, New York City is the first thing to go down--and take Albert's family with it. Can Albert's Master Tile give the team the extra push that will take them to the top?
June Cleaver's ratings: Language: G; Violence PG; Sexual Content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; magic and the occult PG; GLBT content G; adult themes (bullying) PG; overall rating PG.
Liz's opinion: A fantasy series for tween readers, aimed squarely at grades 4-6. Fans of Lisa McMann's "Unwanteds" will like this one too. Although it moves briskly and keeps the reader engaged on that level, Cummings doesn't invest enough time in world building, so it's hard to imagine the underground realms, or even The Core, where the kids train to fight. Additionally, the bullying by the Argon team seems contrived--more like a plot device to take up space by throwing obstacles in the way than anything else. The book has a good premise, though, and one can hope the series will get a little more sophisticated as the kids get older (they're already due for a go-back on their next summer vacation).
No comments:
Post a Comment