THE AMULET OF KOMONDOR
Adam Osterweil, Handprint, , illus. by Peter Thorpe. . Front Street, $15.95 (184pp) ISBN 978-1-886910-81-2
Middle-school friends Joe and Katie are avid players of DragonSteel, a fantasy card game that strongly resembles Yu-Gi-Oh! They purchase a computer version of the game at a mysterious store (the store conveniently vanishes once they step outside), and playing it literally sweeps them into the DragonSteel realm. There they are the "chosen ones" who must find five pieces of an amulet before an evil force beats them to it. Dialogue runs thin, from the wormy game-master ("No take-backs or do-overs—that's what the Great Prophecy says") to Joe's clueless, allegedly brilliant parents ("What about that island?... Isn't there some island where you can temporarily put boys his age?" says Joe's exasperated father, misremembering
Reviewed on: 10/27/2003
Genre: Children's
Paperback - 182 pages - 978-1-9868-2122-3