The Secret of Zoone

December 1, 2018

Gr 4-6-The door looks old and dull, but somehow magical to Ozzie. How could a magical door exist in the basement of the building where his prim aunt lives in apartment 2B? When the very tall lady with a hat full of birds-real birds-and a blue winged tiger named Tug appear on his couch, Ozzie can't help but believe in the magical door that takes him with a bang to the Land of Zoone. Unfortunately, when he arrives in the station that serves as the nexus of access to all magical lands, the door to his earthly world is blasted apart. Ozzie soon finds himself with a porter's job (he learns to not ask what is in the luggage), trying to figure out who he can trust, including a princess and an ornery wizard. Trouble is brewing for Zoone in the shape of the escaped evil wizard Crogus, and Ozzie might just hold the magical key to save it all. The world-building is detailed and rich; readers will want to travel the tracks to visit different worlds and stroll the magical market. The plot is fairly predictable, but there is enough suspense and mystery to keep most readers hooked. VERDICT A solid fantasy for large middle grade collections.-Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2019
This portal fantasy begins with a door to nowhere.One uneventful day, a pipe bursts in Apartment 2B, where Oswald "Ozzie" Sparks lives with practical, orderly Aunt Temperance while his high-powered parents travel the world. Imaginative, lonely Ozzie sets off in search of creepy Mr. Crudge, the building's caretaker, and stumbles upon a mysterious door. This door has "an energy about it," and for some reason Aunt Temperance seems to have a key to it. A few days later, Ozzie arrives home to find a blue, curly-eared, winged, tigerlike creature called a skyger waiting for him. Telling Ozzie his name is Tug, he invites the boy to Zoone, the heart of the multiverse, where the Convention of Wizardry is about to commence and the secret of this world between worlds awaits. Using Aunt Temperance's key, Ozzie enters, but the door explodes, leaving Ozzie with no way home. Though he'll have guidance from Lady Zoone, the steward, Ozzie will need to discover the secret on his own. He'll also find out he's much braver than he thinks over the course of this rather contemplative adventure. Like many a magical world before it, Zoone is full of colorful characters. Even Aunt Temperance wasn't always so "mundane," as Ozzie learns. She appears to suffer from depression, which Ozzie understands as sickness. Tug has a disability among those of his kind: His wings don't work. Capt. Cho, head of Zoone security, has brown skin; assume whiteness for other humans.A promising start for a new series. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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