By Jenny McLachlan, Illustrated by Ben Mantle
4RBooks: 6/6, grades 3-7
Amazon rating: 4.7/5, grades 3-7
Good Reads: 4.07/5
Common Sense Media: Not Reviewed
285 pages
Synopsis:
Arthur and Rose Trout are spending the summer with their grandfather. Once close, the 11-year-old twins have been growing apart over the past few months. Middle school is just around the corner and Rose is trying to fit in and not feel embarrassed while Arthur just wants to have fun like they used to.
When they were younger, they once played a make-believe fantasy game they called ROAR. They thought it was imaginary until their grandpa was kidnapped and held captive in ROAR. Arthur goes in after him and eventually Rose joins him in the rescue.
While there, they will learn that ROAR is falling apart because they stopped playing and believing. They will enlist the help of their friend Wininja, the wizard ninja, and the dragons Pickle and Vlad. They will also find the “Lost Girls” and get them to join them in the quest. They must defeat the scarecrow monster Growky and his army of scarecrows and crows who are holding their grandfather captive.
Parental Guidance: low
Some moments of fantasy monsters and dangerous situations.
Recommendation:
It was such a pleasure to read a book for elementary children that was appropriate for elementary children. I enjoyed this book immensely and highly recommend it. The characters are relatable, and the adventure is suspenseful. This is a good book for an individual read, a classroom read, or a family read. There’s enough intrigue to keep high readers interested, but it’s accessible for low to medium readers, too. Short chapters are interspersed with longer chapters and the illustrations are excellent and help bring life to the story. The story is written in first person, Arthur’s viewpoint, but Rose is an equally strong character. Boys and girls should enjoy reading this novel.
The relationship between the twins is valuable for discussions of growing up and growing apart. Fear of change and expectations are also important subplots to the overall story. This is the first of a three-part series that I will look forward to continuing.
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