FICTION

The Gathering Storm

by H.K. VARIAN
176p. (The Hidden World of Changers). S. & S./Simon Spotlight. Jun. 2016. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781481466172; pap. $6.99. ISBN 9781481466165.
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Gr 3–6—A formulaic series opener aimed at Percy Jackson fans that falls far short of its goal. When Makoto (who prefers to be called Mack) gets on the bus to go back to school after the summer break, he finds he's enrolled in a strange PE class with only three other students. Their teacher informs them that they are shape-shifters, or Changers, part of an ancient race of half-animal, half-human creatures. The majority of the story revolves around the kids figuring out how to change and having weird feelings about their new abilities. There is an evil warlock that they must defeat thrown in at the end, but since there is very little buildup to that plot point, the ending is anticlimactic. The attempt at a multicultural cast of characters is forced and, at times, uncomfortable.
VERDICT Skip this oversimplified and underdeveloped opener.
Reviewed by Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX
Four seventh graders assigned to Independent Study PE learn that they are actually shape-shifting "Changers" just in time to save their small town from magical catastrophe. Despite the underdeveloped character- and world-building and a bare-bones plot, reluctant readers who like Spirit Animals and similar series will enjoy this diverse cast of heroes with connections to Japanese, Irish, Mexican, and South African mythology.
 , Feb 01, 2016

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