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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
For a kids book that I've been dying to read since I was actually a kid. It was great! I love Disney and I knew everything they were talking about and all the rides and I could picture everything. It Was really good and I can't wait through the others!
I read this book as a bedtime story with my kids. We’d read 1-2 chapters every night and they loved it! Every time a scene would take place in a particular park attraction I would play the song from the attraction lowly just to add a dramatic effect to the story and we all devoured it!!!! Such a beautiful storyline, the character development was great, the concept was amazing, just an amazing novel overall!
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fairly generic middle school adventure book. The only distinction is its Disney World features. There is no growth in the characters and the ending is fairly complete if left at the first book. Currently unsure if I will read more. If I hadn’t recently read GOOD middle school fiction, I might think my lackluster response was due to the book audience, but instead it is clearly the book.
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I rarely write a full review because, let's face, I just don't have time for that. But this book was so problematic that I even kept notes along the way for just this purpose. The storyline is fantastic. I love the idea of seeing what might happen if you believe in the fairytales Disney convinces you are real. And as my six-year-old told me yesterday, "If there's no bad guys, then you can't have any superheroes."
I read this book in a matter of days--couldn't put it down. So I'm tempted to rate it at least a 4. But there were so many flaws! The characters were shallowly drawn, with little of the depth and description you would expect to see from the first book in a series about them. They were stereotypes, which can be a fine place to start, but the author needs to go further to flesh them out (pun intended). The foreshadowing was intense, heavy-handed, and borderline insulting--even in a YA novel. When Amanda was first introduced, it felt as if the author was beating me over the head with signs of her importance. I said to myself, "If she doesn't turn out to be substantially involved in the core issues of the DHI technology, I will be stunned." Subtlety is not Pearson's strong suit.
Beyond those concerns, which do not alone merit a negative review, I was immensely bothered by the mechanical errors. Perhaps my career as a copyeditor does me a disservice here, but I've been able to overlook these types of errors in other books with nary a snicker. There were just too many for an author of Pearson's caliber and a book so heavily branded with a global corporation the likes of Disney. Quotation marks opened quotes that were never closed. At one point, he refers to the "five" kids when there were clearly only four in the reference. My hands itched for a red pen.
I really wanted to read the second book in the series to see how it goes before deciding to write off "Kingdom Keepers" altogether. But my library does not carry #2, despite having copies of every other book in the series. Alas, I cannot bring myself to drop even $5 on the second book, so I'll have to let it go for now. So, considering the dilemma I was presented with, I'm going to rate it 3 stars. If you are less bothered by the issues (all fixable with a strong-handed editor!) than I was, you'll probably be up late at night with a flashlight under the covers, dying to see what happens next.
I read this book in a matter of days--couldn't put it down. So I'm tempted to rate it at least a 4. But there were so many flaws! The characters were shallowly drawn, with little of the depth and description you would expect to see from the first book in a series about them. They were stereotypes, which can be a fine place to start, but the author needs to go further to flesh them out (pun intended). The foreshadowing was intense, heavy-handed, and borderline insulting--even in a YA novel. When Amanda was first introduced, it felt as if the author was beating me over the head with signs of her importance. I said to myself, "If she doesn't turn out to be substantially involved in the core issues of the DHI technology, I will be stunned." Subtlety is not Pearson's strong suit.
Beyond those concerns, which do not alone merit a negative review, I was immensely bothered by the mechanical errors. Perhaps my career as a copyeditor does me a disservice here, but I've been able to overlook these types of errors in other books with nary a snicker. There were just too many for an author of Pearson's caliber and a book so heavily branded with a global corporation the likes of Disney. Quotation marks opened quotes that were never closed. At one point, he refers to the "five" kids when there were clearly only four in the reference. My hands itched for a red pen.
I really wanted to read the second book in the series to see how it goes before deciding to write off "Kingdom Keepers" altogether. But my library does not carry #2, despite having copies of every other book in the series. Alas, I cannot bring myself to drop even $5 on the second book, so I'll have to let it go for now. So, considering the dilemma I was presented with, I'm going to rate it 3 stars. If you are less bothered by the issues (all fixable with a strong-handed editor!) than I was, you'll probably be up late at night with a flashlight under the covers, dying to see what happens next.
First in the Kingdom Keepers fantasy adventure series set in Disney World for children. This first book is also known as Kingdom Keepers.
Pet Peeve: The series is the Kingdom Keepers and yet Disney is listing every book as having the title "Kingdom Keepers". Gimme a break. It makes it very confusing for the casual browser to figure out where a book falls in this series.
Is Pearson getting a kickback from Disney? First Bridge to Never Land from Peter and the Starcatchers series and then this one set in Disney World. The idea in this series, Kingdom Keepers, is cute but Pearson isn't respecting his readers very well. Maybe I'm not being fair, but if Rowling can write Harry Potter so well and appeal to young kids then I expect Pearson to do the same. Instead, his segues are abrupt and the writing itself seems aimed at kids without a lot of brainpower.
What's with telling Finn to look for the moon to be in the same place? He's in the same part of the state and close enough to Disney World that he can take a city bus to it. There is no way the moon is going to change position so I don't see how Pearson can claim this will prove Finn isn't dreaming.
He does do a nice job of catching young teen interactions.
The Overtakers are planning to take over Disney World unless Finn and his gang can solve the puzzle of the Stonecutter's Quill. At least that's the story Wayne is telling Finn. It seems that Finn and the others were carefully screened for the position as DHIs; they would become the only people able to see the Disney characters who come to life and save the Kingdom from being taken over by evil. These five would become...drum roll...the Kingdom Keepers.
It's something that Walt Disney had anticipated. That with all the imaginations coming through the park, their beliefs would eventually bring both the good and the evil of stories like Cinderella and Snow White alive. And it is coming alive. Rides are being disrupted, taken apart. The kids are attacked when they visit the Kingdom as their dream selves. The animatronics are also becoming aware of the world outside the Kingdom. Unexplained thefts are occurring where the cameras never catch anything. It's up to the Keepers to solve the puzzle and prevent evil from spilling forth.
When the gang crosses over into the Kingdom through their dreams as the DHIs, they are still half-human. All they have to do is think light and they become light that passes through anything. However, it also works in reverse. When they're back in the real world as full humans, the Overtakers are tinkering with the computer servers in the Kingdom and each computer glitch is affecting them in the real world.
Slowly, they begin to solve the puzzle based on clues from the story of the stonecutter and they look through the rides that epitomize the clues. Where they find yet more clues which lead them to the origin of the Magic Kingdom and the clue that will save the day.
It isn't safe.
Wayne Kresky is one of the original Imagineers and he has a message to pass on from Walt Disney himself. Brad is a new Imagineer and filmed the kids to create the DHI hosts.
Finn Whitman is a middle school student and one of the actors whose body was filmed to function as a holographic guide at Disney World. A DHI, or Disney Host Interactive. Dillard Cole is his best friend. The others include Charlene Turner, Isabella "Willa" Angelo, Terry "Donnie" Maybeck, and Philby.
Amanda Lockhart is a new student at Finn's school and she latches onto Finn particularly when he's off saving Disney World. Aunt Bess "Jelly" Maybeck is Terry's aunt with whom he lives; she runs a pottery shop.
Maleficent, the nasty witch from Sleeping Beauty is the chief villainess with Jez as her assistant.
The cover is a metallic hologram of mostly silvers with reds and yellows. It's the castle from Disney's Magic Kingdom against a cloudy night sky and a sliver of moon looking down as pirates chase three of the DHIs through the Kingdom.
The title refers to Finn and his friends' role in preserving the Kingdom, the world; they're the Kingdom Keepers roaming around in Disney After Dark.
Pet Peeve: The series is the Kingdom Keepers and yet Disney is listing every book as having the title "Kingdom Keepers". Gimme a break. It makes it very confusing for the casual browser to figure out where a book falls in this series.
My Take
Is Pearson getting a kickback from Disney? First Bridge to Never Land from Peter and the Starcatchers series and then this one set in Disney World. The idea in this series, Kingdom Keepers, is cute but Pearson isn't respecting his readers very well. Maybe I'm not being fair, but if Rowling can write Harry Potter so well and appeal to young kids then I expect Pearson to do the same. Instead, his segues are abrupt and the writing itself seems aimed at kids without a lot of brainpower.
What's with telling Finn to look for the moon to be in the same place? He's in the same part of the state and close enough to Disney World that he can take a city bus to it. There is no way the moon is going to change position so I don't see how Pearson can claim this will prove Finn isn't dreaming.
He does do a nice job of catching young teen interactions.
The Story
The Overtakers are planning to take over Disney World unless Finn and his gang can solve the puzzle of the Stonecutter's Quill. At least that's the story Wayne is telling Finn. It seems that Finn and the others were carefully screened for the position as DHIs; they would become the only people able to see the Disney characters who come to life and save the Kingdom from being taken over by evil. These five would become...drum roll...the Kingdom Keepers.
It's something that Walt Disney had anticipated. That with all the imaginations coming through the park, their beliefs would eventually bring both the good and the evil of stories like Cinderella and Snow White alive. And it is coming alive. Rides are being disrupted, taken apart. The kids are attacked when they visit the Kingdom as their dream selves. The animatronics are also becoming aware of the world outside the Kingdom. Unexplained thefts are occurring where the cameras never catch anything. It's up to the Keepers to solve the puzzle and prevent evil from spilling forth.
When the gang crosses over into the Kingdom through their dreams as the DHIs, they are still half-human. All they have to do is think light and they become light that passes through anything. However, it also works in reverse. When they're back in the real world as full humans, the Overtakers are tinkering with the computer servers in the Kingdom and each computer glitch is affecting them in the real world.
Slowly, they begin to solve the puzzle based on clues from the story of the stonecutter and they look through the rides that epitomize the clues. Where they find yet more clues which lead them to the origin of the Magic Kingdom and the clue that will save the day.
It isn't safe.
The Characters
Wayne Kresky is one of the original Imagineers and he has a message to pass on from Walt Disney himself. Brad is a new Imagineer and filmed the kids to create the DHI hosts.
Finn Whitman is a middle school student and one of the actors whose body was filmed to function as a holographic guide at Disney World. A DHI, or Disney Host Interactive. Dillard Cole is his best friend. The others include Charlene Turner, Isabella "Willa" Angelo, Terry "Donnie" Maybeck, and Philby.
Amanda Lockhart is a new student at Finn's school and she latches onto Finn particularly when he's off saving Disney World. Aunt Bess "Jelly" Maybeck is Terry's aunt with whom he lives; she runs a pottery shop.
Maleficent, the nasty witch from Sleeping Beauty is the chief villainess with Jez as her assistant.
The Cover
The cover is a metallic hologram of mostly silvers with reds and yellows. It's the castle from Disney's Magic Kingdom against a cloudy night sky and a sliver of moon looking down as pirates chase three of the DHIs through the Kingdom.
The title refers to Finn and his friends' role in preserving the Kingdom, the world; they're the Kingdom Keepers roaming around in Disney After Dark.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No