The Navel of the World

The Navel of the World, P.J. Hoover
The Forgotten Worlds, Book 2

Last Wednesday I reviewed the first book in the series, The Emerald Tablet, and-- ah, you've guessed it!-- part three, The Necropolis, is coming next week. Austin Public Library has gotten these books to me at lightning speed, which is fast even for them, which makes me suspect that Ms. Hoover is expediting the process. (Okay, I don't really suspect that, but oh my gosh it would be so cool if she were!!)

Mild spoilers again after the jump.


Benjamin, Andy, and the rest of the gang are back for their second year of summer school. Benjamin has a new task in his quest, and there is a whole slate of potential bad guys to try to beat him to it. So, he has to elude the bad guys, beat his rival in summer school (the only underdeveloped character in the whole series, IMO, but I'm hoping that it gets better in book 3), protect his friends, and pass his classes. Good luck, dude.

Ms. Hoover managed to sneak in some surprises on me again, although it's so entertaining to pick up the clues she leaves along the way to figure out what's coming. I think she really hit her stride in this book; my expectations were high after The Emerald Tablet, but The Navel of the World was even better. I laughed out loud a few times, and I read it straight through because I couldn't put it down. It was fab.

And while I had a bunch of lines that I loved, I now can't remember where they were. (Except this one: "'Oh, crap!' Andy said." Yeah, I say that a lot, too.) So you'll have to read it and get your own favourite lines!

Do you have kids who like MG/YA fantasy (with a little bit of real-life history thrown in)? If so, get thee to a bookstore and demand these books!