| Title
Hollow Earth
Author John Barrowman, Carole E. Barrowman Publisher Aladdin ISBN 9781442458536 Pub Date July 9, 2013 Category Fiction, Kids, Fantasy, Magic, Series: Hollow Earth |
Summary:
In this fresh and innovative middle grade fantasy, imagination matters most in a world where art can keep monsters trapped—or set them free.
Lots of twins have a special connection, but twelve-year-old Matt and Emily Calder can do way more than finish each other’s sentences. Together, they are able to bring art to life and enter paintings at will. Their extraordinary abilities are highly sought after, particularly by a secret group who want to access the terrors called Hollow Earth. All the demons, devils, and evil creatures ever imagined are trapped for eternity in the world of Hollow Earth—trapped unless special powers release them.
The twins flee from London to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland in hopes of escaping their pursuers and gaining the protection of their grandfather, who has powers of his own. But the villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within. With so much at stake, nowhere is safe—and survival might be a fantasy.
My Thoughts:
This was a fun read. I plan on reading this one with my soon to be 8 year old daughter next. This is the kind of book I know she will enjoy, and its just a bit beyond her own reading level. The characters are realistic, and since they are Matt and Em like my son and daughter it added to the fun of reading the book. In some ways the kids were a bit too realistic and I found myself thinking that they should be reined in a bit, but that would have taken away from the story I know. But as a parent some of the things these kids got away with are things my two know better than to even try, so I found that a bit distracting. But all in all this is a good young tween type book, there is plenty of action, kids going off on their own and getting into trouble with little to no actual consequences. There are several holes in the story that I would have like to see answered in this book, and I hope that they are answered in the next book of this series. The concept of a magic user type person with a guardian is an interesting concept, the guardian can keep the magic user on track and be a protector while they work. I look forward to seeing how Matt, Em and Zack grow in the next book. I hope that as they age they learn some maturity and try not to be so impulsive and just looking towards their interests and instead towards other people. I think the entitlement and me, me, me attitude that the kids showed in this book is what bugged me the most. They hardly ever seemed to follow their elders rules, thinking that at 12 almost 13 they knew better what was good for them. And I know that a younger reader will relish in that and enjoy the fact that these characters are doing what they themselves want to do. For me the subject matter is what kept me reading and overlooking the parts that annoyed me, And I look forward to reading the next in the series hoping that age and maturity will get rid of the annoying factors.
Over All Rating: 3/ 5 Stars
Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the publisher via Edelweiss. The rating, review, and all opinions are my own