The Wizards of Wyrd World

by Pamela F. Service, Mike Gorman (Illustrator)

Overview

Josh Higgins and his sister Maggie have vowed not to use the alien gizmo that lets them visit other worlds. But when Josh's favorite writer comes to town, the temptation is too much. Along with famous author P.L. Cuthbertson, Josh and Maggie prepare to visit the land of Cuthbertson's books: Wyrd World.





As soon as the crew arrives, some of Wyrd World's thuggish locals mistake P.L. for a wizard-and that's not a good thing. Josh and Maggie begin a rescue mission, sneaking through fortresses and dungeons. But to challenge the planet's evil rulers, they'll have to unite a group of rebels and outcasts who would just as soon fight each other. . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467730310
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2013
Series:	Way-Too-Real Aliens , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	9 - 10 Years

About the Author

Mike Gorman is a seasoned editorial illustrator whose work has been seen in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, and other publications. He lives in Westbrook, Maine, with his wife, three children, a dog, a cat, two toads, and a gecko.
Born in Berkeley, California, Pamela F. Service grew up loving to hear, read, and tell stories—particularly about weird stuff. Pamela earned a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley followed by an MA in history and archaeology from the University of London. She spent many years living in Bloomington, Indiana, writing, serving on the city council, and being curator of a history museum. She has a grown daughter, Alex, who is also a museum curator. Pamela is now living in Eureka, California, where she writes, works as a museum curator, and acts in community theater.

Editorial Reviews

"Thanks to two young biblionauts and the alien transporter they snatched in the series opener, a weary writer finds both terror and inspiration in the fantasy world where his own novels are set.

Taking advantage of a school visit (plus the series premise that all 'fiction' is actually real, somewhere) Josh and his pushy little sister, Maggie, engineer a trip to swords-and-sorcery 'Wyrd World' with its nerdy but willing author/creator P.L. Cuthbertson. Unfortunately, Cuthbertson is immediately captured and hustled off to a dungeon. Fortunately, Josh has just reread the entire series and so knows of a secret entrance…. And so it goes through multiple escapes from places like Gaurgum and the Mines of Karfax, plus encounters with 'six-foot-long, puke-colored slugs' called Ouliths and other locals. Service pokes a little writerly fun as she goes ('news flash: famous authors snore') and relies with comical frequency on Josh's polka-dotted alien pet dit-dit to leap chasms or do whatever else is needed to expedite the plot whenever it hits a snag. She delivers her three travelers home at last, exhilarated and ready for sequels—both real and (in Cuthbertson's case) the virtual, armchair sort.

A firmly tongue-in-cheek series hits its stride as Josh cuts out his earlier foot-dragging and shows signs of becoming an adrenalin junkie like his sister." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Thanks to two young biblionauts and the alien transporter they snatched in the series opener, a weary writer finds both terror and inspiration in the fantasy world where his own novels are set. Taking advantage of a school visit (plus the series premise that all "fiction" is actually real, somewhere) Josh and his pushy little sister, Maggie, engineer a trip to swords-and-sorcery "Wyrd World" with its nerdy but willing author/creator P.L. Cuthbertson. Unfortunately, Cuthbertson is immediately captured and hustled off to a dungeon. Fortunately, Josh has just reread the entire series and so knows of a secret entrance….And so it goes through multiple escapes from places like Gaurgum and the Mines of Karfax, plus encounters with "six-foot-long, puke-colored slugs" called Ouliths and other locals. Service pokes a little writerly fun as she goes ("news flash: famous authors snore") and relies with comical frequency on Josh's polka-dotted alien pet dit-dit to leap chasms or do whatever else is needed to expedite the plot whenever it hits a snag. She delivers her three travelers home at last, exhilarated and ready for sequels--both real and (in Cuthbertson's case) the virtual, armchair sort. A firmly tongue-in-cheek series hits its stride as Josh cuts out his earlier foot-dragging and shows signs of becoming an adrenalin junkie like his sister. (Science fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews