Diana and the Journey to the Unknown

Diana cannot rest until every kid is saved from Zumius, the alien boss who has kidnapped many children. After her voyage into the Underworld, Diana feels guilty that she couldn’t save every superpowered kid that Hades kidnapped. So, while the Amazons debate how to keep her safe, Diana decides to confront her enemies by herself. Determined to help, no matter the cost, Diana transports herself to a strange facility. 

After being drugged and thrown in a cage, Diana escapes outside, looking up to find three moons in the sky and no way home. However, nothing can stop Diana. She befriends some of the planet’s native inhabitants, but when the monsters tracking her threaten her new friends, Diana sacrifices herself by surrendering to protect them. This time, the guards take her to Zumius’s lair in the mortal world.  

When Zumius sends guards after Imani, the last superpowered child, Diana escapes once more. She emerges in an unfamiliar city filled with advanced technology and oddly dressed inhabitants. Despite facing extraordinary challenges for a twelve-year-old, Diana overcomes them with impressive resilience. Diana saves Imani and reactivates Imani’s powers. Then, Diana and Imani put themselves in danger to save the rest of the kids. With the power of the gods failing, no adults to help, and a skyscraper filled with guards in their way, Diana and Imani are bravely undaunted. Along the way, Diana discovers that, while she does have secret superpowers she never knew about, her real superpower is love—love for her family, friends, and people that push her to perform acts of wonder. 

Diana and the Journey to the Unknown serves as a perfect conclusion to the trilogy, although the sequence of events is somewhat overcomplicated. There are only a few implausible moments, such as guards repeatedly underestimating Diana, but these don’t overshadow the power of Diana’s character and the magic of this world. The Amazons are a great example of women empowering one another, and the kids Diana rescues will be an inspiration to kids everywhere. The rest of the story is well-constructed, using simple language and an easy plot that will engage the average reader.  

Readers who enjoy out-of-this-world adventures, Greek mythology, and amazing independent kids will love the world-jumping, new superpowers, and the brutish villains of Diana and the Journey to the Unknown. Diana travels to multiple worlds to save others, complete with monstrous aliens, magical poisons, and plenty of guards for Diana to outwit, all making for creative entertainment. Diana proves again that she’s a powerful character, accomplishing what even the gods could not by defeating Zumius. Overall, this is an inspiring story with a wonderful message: there’s always a way to adapt to the situation, no matter how hopeless it may seem. 

Sexual Content  

• None

Violence  

• After Diana escapes from the alien facility, she encounters an alien called a Targuni in the woods. Assuming the Targuni has come to imprison her, she attacks them. “With a swoop, she lassoed the creature with a final flourish. The Targuni rose unsteadily to their feet. They tugged at the rope encircling their shoulders, pulling frantically, struggling to break free. Diana tightened her grip.” The Targuni eventually tells Diana that they mean Diana no harm, and Diana lets them go.  
• When Diana gets recaptured, she breaks the bars on her cage and interrogates a nearby guard for her friend Imani’s whereabouts. “Diana didn’t have time to negotiate. [The other guard] could be back any second, and it would be much harder to fight two. Swinging her lasso, she hurled it toward [the guard]. It launched into the air and wrapped itself around him. He pressed his arms against the lasso as though he could burst it with sheer force. His cheeks turned bright red. A few seconds later, as she expected, his shoulders drooped in defeat. His head hung low.” She gets the information from him and lets him go.  
• The second guard comes back, and Diana attacks him. “Before [the other guard] could finish his sentence, Diana struck her sword out, upending the food in his hands and splattering the cheeseburger against his face. Then she shoved him as hard as she could. He fell backward onto the carpeted floor with a loud groan.” She runs past him and escapes.  
• Once she finds the rest of the kids, she fights the guard so they can escape. “Diana crouched, waiting for [the guard] to approach. He was almost there. His hands inches from her wrist. She sliced the air with her sword; it skimmed his arm.” It’s a small wound, and while there are a couple more punches thrown, no one is grievously injured.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

• After grasping the cage fragments and teleporting somewhere new, Diana is surprised by two scientists who are walking into the room. They see her and assume that she is in an altered state because of a gas triggered when someone teleports into that room. One of the doctors says, “Be that as it may, she’s under twice the usual dose, and she’s definitely not one of [the superpowered] kids. There’s a protocol to prepare for their arrival. Some sort of glitch must have occurred. It’s not the first time.” This implies they have drugged the other kids into submission. However, Diana is unaffected by the drug and pretends to be unconscious to buy time. 
• While trying to rescue the kids from Zumius, Diana discovers that they’re being drugged by a substance that induces the feeling of hopelessness, ensuring the kids’ compliance. Diana’s friend Augustus says, “The kids won’t do anything. I can’t be absolutely certain what it is he’s given them to cause their apathy, but based on the scent when he administers it, I believe he’s using a pazzo bean. It instills hopelessness in whoever imbibes it.” Diana is briefly drugged by this substance but manages to ignore the effects. 

Language  

• Language is tame. Words like stupid, idiot, and imbecile appear frequently

Supernatural  

• Diana is a superhero, complete with superpowers and magical relics, like the Lasso of Truth. She fights monsters, aliens, and gods. Every page of this novel exhibits some kind of supernatural content. However, the magic is primarily wielded by kids with superpowers without spoken spells, just the wave of a hand. Magic is also present in the landscape, such as the magical island of Themyscira, hidden from the eyes of men. The monsters encountered are mostly aliens, and, while fantastically described, they do not have supernatural powers.  
• The kids Diana is trying to rescue are described by two scientists trying to figure out how to contain Diana. “‘I’m just saying. If she’s one of those kids, her size doesn’t matter. You’ve seen them,’ [one scientist] replied defensively. ‘The metal bender nearly ripped the door apart when the charm wore off a smidge. And [another superpowered kid] had my arms go soft like jelly without even touching me before we got the second dose on her.’” 
• Diana’s powers are described after she saves a kid from falling off a play structure.  “[A girl] held up her device [for Diana to see]. [In the video] there was a shifting of green grass—a blur—and then there was Diana; she swooped in, grabbing Fiona before she hit the ground. Someone had captured the moment. How is this possible? Diana stared at the image as it played and replayed. She wanted to wave it away as a trick of the eyes, except it was her. The blur in the image was Diana. She’d known she could run fast, but seeing herself doing it. . . it was far faster than she’d realized. In this video, she was. . . impossibly fast.” 
• While Diana is trying to rescue the kids, she climbs up a building and falls, discovering a new superpower. “Diana hadn’t fallen. She was levitating in midair; her hands were up and swimming frantically inches from the edge of the beam she’d slipped from. Diana gritted her teeth and, reaching up, she grasped onto a ledge. Hastily, she scrambled atop it and climbed onto the balcony.” 
• After defeating Zumius, the kids need to figure out how to escape the skyscraper. A new friend, Aristaeus, can control insects and the wind. While escaping, bees flew through the open window and “propelled Aristaeus in the air. Diana shivered. They held him much like the [aliens] had held Diana up not so long ago [to capture her]. But this time was different. These creatures promised safety. Imani tapped her hands against the bees and closed her eyes—and within seconds, they flew invisibly through the air. As the kids let the bees sweep them up, Imani guided them to her home.” 

Spiritual Content  

• Princess Diana grew up among the Amazons, a community of warrior women who worship the Greek gods. In Diana and Journey to the Unknown, she meets, fights, and even collaborates with a couple of them. The Greek gods or references to them appear on nearly every page of this novel. For example, when Diana confronts Zumius, claiming the gods will come to her rescue, Zumius replies, “The gods! They’re frazzled as can be, aren’t they? Hades was dishing out the yummiest gossip before they neutralized him. But the fact of the matter is it’s too late for any of your gods to actually do anything at this point.” 
• Diana’s friend Imani is a demigod and the child of Zeus. Diana mentions this when trying to get Imani to activate her abilities. “Zeus—your father—said you could stay in our world and learn more about your powers and who you were. He said returning to this world—the mortal world—with your memories and powers intact compromised your ability to live a normal life. You chose to forget. That is why none of what I’m telling you rings a bell. But it’s all true. Every last word.” 
• Once the kids find their way back to Imani’s house, Zeus appears at the end to congratulate the kids on saving the day. “Lightning crackled in the distance. The home rumbled gently beneath their feet before a white burst of light appeared in the room. Diana blinked. It was Zeus. He wore a white tunic and a gold crown and held an enormous staff in his hands.” 

by Kate Schuyler