This book is strange and creepy but also one of my comfort books and sometimes I listen to the audio book to fall asleep. ( )

I listened to this on tape, and while it feels like an early go at his later, better composed Jasper Dash books, it is a fine mix of adventure, mystery, fantasy and humor. ("The forest was silent. Except for the screaming.") ( )

I listened to this on tape, and while it feels like an early go at his later, better composed Jasper Dash books, it is a fine mix of adventure, mystery, fantasy and humor. ("The forest was silent. Except for the screaming.") ( )

An intriguing tale that starts off slow but becomes more interesting as Brian and Gregory, two best friends, are challenged to compete in a mysterious game which pits the fate of one ancient mystical civilization against another. Somewhat shallow in character development, a good read nonetheless which will appeal to fans of mystery and suspense. Great for the Grade 4-8 group. ( )

High school friends engage in a quest that recalls Jumanji fused to Ender's Game. Within Anderson's oeuvre, it falls between the M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales books and Feed in terms of whimsy and emotional realism. As in those books, absurdity intermingles with sudden moments of poignancy. The relationship between the boys was not as tense (or intense) as I would have liked for greater emotional and plot complexity and payoff. Anderson does better in the first person; his third-person stories tend toward an excess of awkward exposition. ( )