The Only Living Boy: Prisoner of the Patchwork Planet

Gr 4–7—Twelve-year-old Erik is running away, and he stops to spend the night in the shelter of a rock outcrop in New York City's Central Park. When he wakes up, he finds himself in an alternate version of the city, complete with monstrous creatures baring their enormous teeth and an evil-looking dragon sitting atop the Empire State Building. Erik gets knocked out during a fight with the monsters and wakes up in a prison cell, where he learns that he is the only living human left in the world. He decides to free his fellow prisoners and fight back against their captor, an evil scientist named Doctor Once. Erik's escape leads him to further adventures in an underground kingdom, built under what was once New York City. This action-packed graphic novel is filled with vividly colored and incredibly detailed illustrations of a wide variety of fantasy creatures, some terrifying and some endearing. From start to finish, the story line proceeds at a breakneck pace, with sometimes abrupt scene changes and little room for character development. However, readers who enjoy constant action and huge fight scenes will find much to like in this volume, and they will arrive at the end breathless and ready for the next installment in the series.