Now hear me out. I’m not saying they aren’t “good”, I’m just saying that they are sad and depressing – and don’t humans have to deal with enough depressing things in their own lives? They get you to care deeply about certain characters only for them to be gruesomely killed off. We all go through deaths of family, friends, mentors, and public figures throughout our lives. Why would one want to go through the deaths of characters in movies, books, and other forms of fiction? How does that make something worth reading/watching?

I get that they make you feel intense “emotions” and all that, but why would you want to feel “emotions” that cause you stress, sadness, depression, etc.? Shouldn’t books be used as an escape to a reality where your dreams come true instead of a reality that you wish never to be part of?

I read a lot of books. Some of my favorite books include The Kingdom Keepers, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and The Twenty-One Balloons (of course, a lot of my other favorite books (the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, etc) have freakier elements, but I’m making a point, so just keep reading and bear with me). Now, these books are branded *kids books* because they don’t feature any extreme violence. The same with music, film, or any media. If it is appropriate for all ages, it is marked as *kids* and avoided by a lot of older readers. Why must writers incorporate extreme violence or inappropriate content if they wish there works to be noticed by older audiences?

Is it just because that when we get older we are expected to partake and enjoy darker activities? Are we supposed to suddenly want to watch horror films and read books where death is the main plot point? Is this really what we want to read or are we just taught that this is what we are supposed to want?

Now I could just be seeing everything from my vantage point in a rainbow-filled world of joy and happiness, but I want to hear what you think. Why read depressing books?

Finn Whitman is a typical middle schooler living in Orlando who happens to become a DHI–Disney Host Interactive–along with four other kids. However, there is a greater purpose behind their new positions. An old man named Wayne explains to them that the Overtakers are threatening to destroy the park–and possibly the world–using evil magic. So, the kids have to solve the mystery behind one of Walt’s old stories called “The Stonecutter’s Quill” and stop Maleficent before she and her cronies end up taking over the entire world.

Honestly, I got about to the half-way point of this book and skipped ahead to the end because I couldn’t put up with its numerous errors any longer. This book just shows that fanfiction is better off staying on the internet. No, it doesn’t have m-preg or twincest, but it does have a Gary-Stu lead, surprise twins, and complete lack of character development. The fact that I read bits and pieces of the end and still understood what was happening only proved to me that I wasn’t missing much. From what I can tell, none of the characters change. Finn always knows all the answers and figures everything out correctly while attracting just about every female character in the book. Maybeck is always like “Oh, you guys are so insane! Oh my gosh, why are you so insane? This is stupid. I’m gonna go work on this thing that’ll somehow advance the plot.” Charlene is always complaining about not wanting to do anything, and Willa and Philby are just kind of there. I thought that maybe they’d change by the end of the book, but everyone was still acting the same. Furthermore, the sentence structure at times is absolutely terrible, and Ridley Pearson makes the amateur mistake of replacing the word “said” with every other modifier ever where “said” would do just fine. If your character is complaining, make it sound like he’s complaining in the dialogue. Also, you only need to tell us that your characters are invisible once before we get the picture. If “an invisible Willa” was invisible just a few moments ago, we don’t need to be told that she’s still invisible. “A reading Taylor” is quite displeased, good sir. Of course, it didn’t really surprise me that the quality of this story matched the quality of the lovely author portrait in the back of the book.

Yeah, I don’t care if you’re writing a fun Disney fanfic meant for kids or if you’re some big shot who’s done a bunch of cool things in the past. You still have to have some level of professionalism in the way you present yourself as a writer. Otherwise, readers won’t take you seriously. I certainly don’t take this author or this book seriously.

The only genuinely interesting part about The Kingdom Keepers is the concept and the fact that the author got to run around Disney World to find all the secret places that he’d use in the book. Therefore, some parts of the park he describes might actually exist. You’d think that he’d be able to create something cool out of that, but instead the end product is bland. The idea is great, but the execution is terrible.

Sources:

images from here and here.

“I’m an adult and not ashamed to say I loved this book.”
Said on Saturday afternoon after attending a lecture by a local StL writer (Ridley Pearson, author of Peter and the Starcatchers series, The Kingdom Keepers series and many mysteries) on his book, the Kingdom Keepers. He autographed my book which made me all sorts of giddy and thanked me for reading the Keepers series since it’s not quite as well known (yet). I should also explain that his mysteries are for adults, the other books? Young adult fiction. I always feel slightly sheepish navigating into the young adult section at the bookstore but these books are just SO GOOD. I will even admit that Kingdom Keepers scared me a bit.

“Don’t eat me! I am NOT hay!”
Said on Sunday (early) morning as Darling and I started our first volunteer day grooming horses at the local Equine Assisted Therapy park. Note to self: Wearing a bright yellow jacket is not a good idea as the horses will think you are hay and constantly try to devour parts of your coat. Editor’s Update: I actually enjoyed working with the horses except for when one bit the other and caused the horse I was working with to freak the heck out and nearly run me over.

Finn Whitman is 13 years old, in middle school, and is a holographic guide at Disney World.  His dreams are haunted by images of himself and four other virtual guides protecting the Magic Kingdom from arch-villainess Maleficent and her henchmen (“The Overtakers”) who have put the park in grave danger.  Is it just a dream?  Finn thought so until he meets Wayne, a retired Imagineer, who lets him know that the Overtakers are planning more, much more, than just ruling the Magic Kingdom.

This book is a must-read for anyone who has visited, or plans to visit, Disney World.  Pearson’s settings are vividly described and are based on features of the real magic realm–he obviously did his homework.  Having just visited Walt’s dream world with my family, I found myself looking for the fountain pen on Walt’s desk, and staring at the upper floors of the castle, wondering if maybe, just maybe, the characters do come alive at night.  For middle schoolers, this tall tale of heroes and heroines their own age who save the world from characters they have been weaned on, has to be an engrossing read.  I will be checking out the sequel today!

4P     3Q     Grade Level: 7-9 (and anyone visiting Orlando…)

Cover Art:  The view of Cinderella’s castle by moonlight and three teens chased by a couple of animatronic characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is intriguing enough to pique the interest of tweens and perhaps even teens with an interest in Disney World.

Suggested Reading List: The Way It Could Be (Science Fiction or Fantasy)