A review by katiecatbooks
The Call, by Michael Grant
2.0
Middle grade. Adventure quest. Fantasy.
Story: Mack is an average 12 year old boy. He goes to middle school and one day has the unfortunate luck to fall out with the school's biggest bully. Who knew that by the end of the day Mack would be a hero and that bully would come along for the ride.
Language: The book is told in third person from Mack's perspective. Occasionally we get chapters featuring a character from the past, that has a direct correlation to Mack's timeline in the present. For some added humor, there are some letters from a side character at the end of some chapters. The chapters are of medium length. The settings include southwest USA, Australia and a fantasy world.
Characters: Mack is a 12 year old middle school boy whose parents don't really pay attention to him, gets picked on by bullies and has some phobias. He is also destined to become a hero. Stefan is his bully turned companion, 15 years old and not so bright.
I liked the premise of the book and in general it's fine as a light read, but the main character supposedly has phobias which have no reference or context and doesn't seem to react realistically when facing these phobias other than screaming a lot and then being fine. One thing I didn't care for is that even though this is a middle grade (or children's) book , there are references to stoners and the mafia, which far surpasses the humor level for middle grade and is really just inappropriate. The series has potential and I hope it improves.
Story: Mack is an average 12 year old boy. He goes to middle school and one day has the unfortunate luck to fall out with the school's biggest bully. Who knew that by the end of the day Mack would be a hero and that bully would come along for the ride.
Language: The book is told in third person from Mack's perspective. Occasionally we get chapters featuring a character from the past, that has a direct correlation to Mack's timeline in the present. For some added humor, there are some letters from a side character at the end of some chapters. The chapters are of medium length. The settings include southwest USA, Australia and a fantasy world.
Characters: Mack is a 12 year old middle school boy whose parents don't really pay attention to him, gets picked on by bullies and has some phobias. He is also destined to become a hero. Stefan is his bully turned companion, 15 years old and not so bright.
I liked the premise of the book and in general it's fine as a light read, but the main character supposedly has phobias which have no reference or context and doesn't seem to react realistically when facing these phobias other than screaming a lot and then being fine. One thing I didn't care for is that even though this is a middle grade (or children's) book , there are references to stoners and the mafia, which far surpasses the humor level for middle grade and is really just inappropriate. The series has potential and I hope it improves.