Supernatural Powers – Sneak Peek Books

Amulet Keepers

Strange things are happening in London. Red rain is flooding the streets. People are going missing. And someone is opening graves in Highgate Cemetery . . .

Only Alex and his best friend, Ren, suspect the truth. A Death Walker, a powerful ancient Egyptian evil, is behind the chaos. Their quest to stop him takes them from New York to London, and from the land of the living to the deep underground tombs of the long dead. Will they stop the Death Walker before he gets too powerful . . . or will the tombs claim them, too

The second installment of the TombQuest Series jumps into action right from the start. Even though the plot is similar to The Book of the Dead, Amulet Keepers ramps up the fear factor, especially since part of the mystery revolves around a missing boy. Amulet Keepers has more violence and may frighten younger readers, especially because the Death Walker steals people’s souls. In order to break up the tense scenes, Alex’s cousin Luke appears several times. Luke adds some humor to the story and his athletic abilities come in handy while fighting several thugs.

Many readers will empathize with Alex, who is desperate to find his missing mother. However, Alex’s short temper occasionally borders on the side of being thoughtless and mean. Nevertheless, Alex’s best friend Ren has Alex’s back, even when she becomes frustrated by his bossy attitude. Despite Alex’s behavior, readers will appreciate how all three characters — Alex, Ren, and Luke — have different strengths that help defeat the Death Walker. Amulet Keepers also introduces a mummified cat to the cast of characters, which adds an interesting twist.

TombQuest is an exciting series full of action and adventure that will keep readers engaged but might frighten some readers. Readers wanting a fast-paced story where danger — and mummies — lurk around every corner will find Amulet Keepers entertaining. Readers who want an adventure that doesn’t involve the dead coming back to life will find Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger more to their liking.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A man is walking in his neighborhood when a dead mummy attacks. The man screams, but “the neighbors stayed in their beds, pulling the sheets a little closer. And so none of them saw the powerful figure of one man drag the limp frame of another out of the light at the edge of the village. . .”
While leaving the airport, Alex and Ren are ambushed by Liam, a thug that works for The Order. Alex’s “own heavy suitcase crashed into him. Liam swung the thing like a Ping-Pong paddle, clocking Alex hard on the shoulder and sending him sprawling to the pavement. . . Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Liam bring the suitcase down toward Ren, trying to swat her like a fly.” Ren is “knocked flat.” Then, Liam puts a zip tie around Alex’s wrists.
Liam tries to put Ren and Alex into a van. “As he reached out for Alex, a shoulder slammed hard into Liam’s gut and a pair of arms wrapped up the tops of his thick legs. . . Liam’s mouth formed a perfect round O as he fell backward and his head slammed into the side of the van.” After Alex’s cousin, Luke, incapacitates Liam, the kids escape. The scene is described over three pages.
Liam follows the kids to a museum. To get into the parking lot, Liam has to take care of the security guard, Glenn. Liam “grabbed the back of Glenn’s head with one powerful hand as the other one shot up towards the guard’s neck. The gleaming metal point of a large hypodermic needle sank deep into the soft, pale flesh of Glenn’s neck. . . the guard fell still.” The guard was injected with horse tranquilizers and was “lucky to be alive.”
When a Death Walker comes after Ren and Alex, Alex grabs the scarab, and “a powerful phantom wind rose up. . . it was enough to slow [the Death Walker] and knock him off balance.” During the fight, Alex shoots a “spear of wind” at the Death Walker, but “the creature opened his mouth wide and ate it. The wind disappeared into a howling vacuum inside.” The creature tries to feed on Ren’s soul. Alex saw “a flicker and a blur as a mirror image of his best friend slowly began to pull away from her body. . .He looked down and saw the same thing happening to him.”
Alex uses his scarab’s magic when the Death Walker tries to feed on Alex and Ren. With his eyes, Alex breaks a tree branch. “The Walker looked up in surprise, pointing his open mouth at the falling branch. . . A moment later, the branch crashed down on his oversized frame, knocking the foul man-thing to the ground.” The kids are able to run away from the Walker. The scene is described over four pages.
Dr. Aditi, who was helping Alex and Ren, is in a cemetery when the Death Walker sees her. “Two strong hands clamped down on her shoulders. . . The powerful hands dug into her shoulders as he opened his mouth wide and showed her oblivion. The world went cold, and the last thing she saw as her eyes turned white and her lips edged past purple was her very self, slipping away.”
While in an isolated part of a museum, Liam corners Ren. “There was nowhere to go, no other exit, but she put the room’s one bench in between her and the towering thug.” Liam takes out a syringe of horse tranquilizer. “He stabbed out with the syringe. . . she screamed as the point of the needle raked across her left arm.”
Ren tries to run from Liam, but “he reeled her in like a wriggling trout as the drop of tranquilizer began to take effect and her vision began to blur.” Luke and Alex jump in to help Ren. Alex uses his amulet to push Liam’s lookout down the stairs. Then, Alex “squeezed his fingers into a sharp point and . . . a lance of concentrated air caught Liam directly under his chin, sending him reeling backwards.” Then, Luke “lowered his shoulder and crashed into the back of Liam’s legs, sending the big man toppling over him and onto the floor.”
When Liam tries to take an unconscious Ren, Alex attacks the thug with wind. “As Liam rose onto one knee, his body jerked violently off the floor and spun toward the other two men. His big frame caught them at shoulder level and all three landed in a heap . . . grunting from pain and surprise.” All three kids escape without injury. The scene is described over six pages.
After failing to capture Alex and Ren, Liam is taken to the Death Walker. “Liam felt his body lift off the ground, his feet kicking out from underneath him. He could only flap his arms helplessly as he was slammed back down. The back of his head crashed into the hard-packed dirt and knocked him out cold.” Liam is mummified.
Alex and Ren are in a series of tunnels under a cemetery when “a massive force struck Alex so hard that he flew sideways into the wall . . . he left an Alex-shaped impression in it as he slumped down to the floor . . . Ren spun around to find the long iron snout of a crocodile mask turned toward her like the barrel of a gun. Her hands wrestled futilely with an unseen force clamping down hard on her throat, cutting off the blood flow.” The Death Walker’s servant, Te-mesah, ties up Alex and Ren.
To force Alex to talk, Te-mesah hurts Ren. “Ren gasped with pain and surprise as her bound hands were yanked over her head. . .Ren’s feet were a foot off the ground. . . Her face was a mask of pain and despair.”
Pai, a mummified cat, comes to Ren’s aid. “Pai hissed again, gathered her haunches underneath her, and jumped. . . Te-mesah put his hands up, but it was too late. . . He stumbled backward and smacked into the wall, then . . .attempted to pry the hissing whirlwind from his head.” While Te-mesah is occupied, Ren and Alex escape. The scene is described over three pages.
While in the tunnels, Alex and Ren find Willoughby (a Death Walker). Willoughby had Robbie, “a young boy, tied to a stone slab in front of him. The boy turned his tear-streaked face toward them. He screamed for help, but a filthy rag tied over his mouth muffled the words.”
A mummy begins to chase Robbie but he “executed a nifty soccer-field fake. . . the mummy barreled straight ahead, as mummies do. Alex grasped his amulet, raised his right hand, and released the most powerful lance of wind yet. . .The mummy toppled forward at full speed and wiped Willoughby out.”
Willoughby focuses on Alex, deciding “who to kill first. . . [the Death Walker] punched his hand forward again, and Alex’s body convulsed hard on the floor. . .He reached up and wiped his mouth painting a red smear across the back of his hand.”
Robbie cuts off Willoughby’s hand. “The metal shears snapped shut, making a grotesque sound as they cut through muscle and old bone. Robbie squeezed with every muscle in his small body – and all the anger in there, too – leaning his chest and all his weight down on the handles. . . Willoughby’s hand dropped to the dirt floor with a dull thud.”

Drugs and Alcohol

After using his magic, Alex’s head hurts so he “rifled through his stuff for his bottle of headache pills, took two too many, and collapsed onto his bed.”

Language

When Alex is being mean to Ren, she tells him, “Don’t be a jerk.”
Alex calls the Death Walker’s servant a scumbag.
Freaking and heck are both used once.

Supernatural

In England, it rains blood several times.
Alex has a scarab amulet that gives him special powers such as being able to sense the dead and control wind.
Ren befriends the mummy of Bastet. “Part protector and part predator, the cat-headed goddess was both revered and feared in ancient Egypt.”
The mummy of Bastet gives Ren an amulet in the shape of an ibis, “the symbol of Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing.” The amulet gives Ren visions, but she doesn’t understand what they mean.
Captain Winfred Willoughby was a tomb raider who was accused of murder. Upon his death Willoughby was mummified, and he comes back to the world of the living as a Death Walker.
An archeologist was mummified and brought back to life. “Everything about him was wrong, an abomination. . . The man’s skin was mottled and uneven; in some places it was stretched taut and dry, like a mummy’s, and in others, it hung loose, like a pale old man’s.” To stay alive, the mummy must feed on the souls of the living.
To send Willoughby back to the land of the dead, Alex uses his amulet to activate the Book of the Dead. Alex recites, “O thief! O usurper! Get back! Return, for you should know justice. . .” The spell does not work until Ren cuts off Willoughby’s hand, which was the ancient Egyptian’s punishment for stealing.

Spiritual Content

None

The Maze Cutter

Isaac, Sadina, and their friends are living on an isolated island — far from the destruction and terror on the mainland caused by the Flare virus. But when a suspicious ship carrying a woman from the mainland arrives, the friends take this chance to leave the safety of the island for the opportunity to see what life on the mainland holds for them. Isaac and his friends leave their safety and their home behind for a chance at improving the world for future generations. The novel follows Isaac and his friends’ trip to the mainland, as well as two warring groups, both desperate for descendants of a certain bloodline that they hope to use for their respective causes.

Fans of Dashner’s original Maze Runner series (2009) will be thrilled to find a new batch of characters and references to the original series in The Maze Cutter. Though the story is set seventy-three years after the Maze Runner Series, the references to the original series will make it difficult to follow for readers who have not read the original series. The prologue opens with references to the events of the original series and there are interspersed excerpts from the diary of one of the characters in the original series.

The Maze Cutter’s point of view switches between Alexandria, Isaac, and Minho. Alexandria is a goddess with powers stemming from the Flare virus. Isaac is a young man who joins his friends who return to the dystopian mainland. And Minho is a trained soldier for the Remnant Nation. The varying plots can be hard to follow since the different characters start out in completely different places, hundreds of miles from each other. However, by the halfway point of the novel, a trap set by one of the two warring factions brings them together with a battle scene that keeps readers wanting to know more.

Minho and Isaac demonstrate the importance of building relationships and embracing “found family.” Isaac struggles to reckon with the loss of his family, as well as his perceived guilt because his family died when they entered stormy ocean waves to save him from drowning. Isaac’s willingness to push through his fear to protect his friends makes him a likable character, and readers will enjoy seeing his realization that “all the crazy people” that survived the battle with him “had made [the loss of his family] a little more bearable.”

Minho is an orphan who “had no parents, no brothers, no sisters, no friends. Only enemies,” until he meets an older woman named Roxy who offers him food and shelter when he stumbles onto her property. Readers will appreciate how Minho’s mindset changes about having family, as he initially is taught to “follow protocol” and not trust anyone, but eventually, he lets Roxy in and shows his emotional side. During the battle scene at the end of the novel, Roxy saves him. Minho says, “It was kinda cool having a mom.”

Another major theme is humanity, and what happens when humans reach for power. To prevent any spread of the Flare virus, the Remnant Nation trains children, like Minho, to be soldiers that will kill any outsiders in hopes of eradicating the virus. By contrast, the Godhead wants to use the virus to infect all of humanity and cause “The Evolution”—powers they hope to gain from the virus. Minho explains of the Godhead and the Remnant Nation, “You’re talking about two religions here, both in a race to the end. And one won’t rest until the other’s gone.” Readers can take away the message that while sometimes people start out with the intention of protecting and helping people, the opportunity to gain power can cause them to hurt others to achieve their goals.

The conclusion leaves readers wondering what the characters will choose to do—will they stay on the mainland or look for a way to return home? Will Alexandria take complete power over her faction? Readers will be left looking forward to the next book in the series, The Godhead Complex, which shows Alexandria uncovering the most valuable asset in this post-apocalyptic battle—a clue that connects the book back to the original Maze Runner series. Readers who are not put off by violence will enjoy how the end battle brings the characters together and shows the survivors forming tight bonds of friendship.

Sexual Content

After Sadina is kidnapped, she is reunited with her long-time girlfriend, Trish. “Trish and Sadina had yet to let go of each other. . . kissing and hugging in a loop that might last another day or two.”

Violence

Minho is approached by a man who begs for his life. Minho didn’t have the courage to disobey protocol” so he shot the man. The murder is described in detail, “A single shot rang out” and the man Minho shot is described as having “a small wisp of smoke leaking from the new hole in his head, slumped off the horse and fell into the mud with a wet splat. Another shot, and the animal fell as well.”
Alexandria finds out that another member of the Godhead, Mikhail, has been attacking followers in a vicious process called “hollowing.” During hollowing, “they’d been sliced from aft to stern, their very essence of life removed with violent but precise efficiency.”
When witnessing a young boy being attacked, Minho grabs the man attacking him and “slammed him against the wall . . . the stranger’s head cracked against the jagged stone.” It is implied that Minho kills him.
Sadina and Isaac are threatened by Timon, a follower of the Godhead, who attempts to kidnap them and threatens to kill their friends. Timon yells, “MEET ME OR THEY ALL DIE . . . TELL ANYONE, THEY DIE.”
When Sadina and Isaac are kidnapped, Kletter, a suspicious woman who arrived on a mysterious ship at the beginning of the book, is brutally murdered. “Her neck . . . that was the bad part. The really bad part. It had been slashed with something sharp, from one side to the other like a necklace, and blood poured down the front of her body in gushes.”
In order to protect his newfound friend Roxy, Minho attacks Letti, one of the kidnappers. Minho “swung the club of wood and smashed it against the side of Letti’s head . . . Letti collapsed to the ground in a heap.” She is not killed as, “Her chest moved up and down, still alive, but her bloody head sure didn’t look so good.”
While trying to escape the confines of the Remnant Nation’s “Berg,” Minho’s friend, Skinny, is killed. It is brutal; Skinny’s “head was smashed, the arms and legs twisted at weird angles, blood everywhere.” Several people die, but these deaths are not described in detail. This “Berg” battle is described over ten pages.
During the battle scene, “Minho had barely stepped from the wreckage when he saw a man buried beneath a large chunk of the Berg that had fallen off . . . The chest didn’t move at all, and there was blood in all kinds of bad places.”
Roxy saves Minho from being stabbed by a Remnant Nation leader during the battle: “Then a long object swung in from the left of his vision, slamming directly into the face of the priestess. The woman screamed, blood spurted, she dropped the knife, collapsed, and went still.”
Alexandria orders her followers to kill Nicholas and bring her his head. Alexandria “slid the box closer to her, lifted its lid . . . The eyes of Nicholas stared back at her. His eyelids removed so that they could never close again. She smiled at him, half-expecting what was left of the dead man to return the kind gesture. He did not.”

Drugs and Alcohol

During a meeting of the Congress of the island, Sadina discovers that her mother and two other congresspeople have put something in the wine so that they can leave the island without resistance. They “spiked the wine. But don’t worry, it only puts them to sleep.”
Alexandria meets with Mannus, a wavering follower of the Godhead, who describes how he ended up with “horns sewed upon his head.” He says, “I was young and drunk and there might’ve been a lady involved. She’s dead now and I still got these damn horns.”

Language

Many of the younger characters frequently use hell and damn.
Other profanity is used occasionally. Profanity includes bastard, shit, and bullshit.
Characters from the Remnant Nation frequently use “thank the Cure” and “for Flare’s sake” as exclamations.
Within the setting of the Godhead, there are frequent exclamations of “Praise to the Maze,” “Glory to the Gladers,” and other expressions of worship towards Alexandria, “the Evolution,” and powers that come with it.
Old Man Frypan, one of the original Gladers, often exclaims, “hallelujah” and “amen.”

Supernatural

Though there are no direct examples of magic in the book, futuristic technology often appears to fill this type of role. For instance, when Isaac and his friends are reunited once more, they are horrified to discover “at least a dozen dark shapes hovered above the horizon as if by magic,” but “Isaac knew it wasn’t magic,” instead it is gigantic “Bergs” coming to take them away.

Spiritual Content

Characters with strength and enhanced senses from “The Evolution” are referred to as Gods and Goddesses of “the Godhead.”
Timon, one of the kidnappers, asks Sadina and Isaac if they have heard of the Godhead, to which Sadina asks, “Like in the Bible. . . Never read it.” But Timon exclaims, “No I’m not talking about the damn Bible.”
The Remnant Nation forces Minho to go on a forty-day trek. While pretending to be loyal to the Remnant Nation, Minho says, “Long live the Cure . . . May I wander for forty days and nights and return a Bearer of Grief in her service! May the Godhead die, and the Cure rule the earth.”
Jackie, one of Isaac’s friends, worries about her kidnapped friends, explaining, “We’re wandering the wilderness like freaking Moses from the Bible. Or was that Joseph? Paul? Who the hell knows.”
Alexandria is part of “the Godhead”, and her goal is to overtake the other two “Gods” and become “their new God.”

by Elana Koehler

Book of the Dead

Nothing can save Alex Sennefer’s life. That’s what all the doctors say, but his mother knows it’s not true. She knows that the Lost Spells of the Egyptian Book of the Dead can crack open a door to the afterlife and pull her son back from the brink. But when she uses the spells, five evil ancients—the Death Walkers—are also brought back to life.

An ancient evil has been unleashed. Mummies are awakening. New York is overrun with scorpions. And worst of all for Alex, his mom and the Lost Spells have both disappeared. He and his best friend, Ren, will do anything to find his mom and save the world . . . even if that means going head-to-head with a Death Walker who has been plotting his revenge for 3,000 years.

From the very first sentence, readers will be hooked on Book of the Dead because of the nonstop action that features an ancient Egyptian mummy that comes back to life. Plus, Alex is a likable protagonist who willingly faces dangers in order to find his mom. Along the way, Alex learns that his mom’s scarab amulet has magical powers that could help him defeat the Death Walker. The supernatural aspects of the story add danger and suspense while also incorporating the Egyptian legend of the Stung Man.

The book is broken up into small sections which increases the story’s pacing as well as makes it accessible to readers. Even though the story is packed full of Egyptian lore, Northrop gives just the right amount of information so readers can understand the Egyptian legends without bogging them down in details. The addition of ancient powers adds interest to the story and leaves readers wondering what will happen next. While the story revolves around danger, there are surprising pockets of humor that will leave readers smiling.

Anyone who is interested in Egypt will love Book of the Dead; it will also appeal to readers who enjoy action and adventure. As the first installment of the TombQuest Series, Book of the Dead sets up an exciting adventure that will have readers quickly reaching for the second book in the series, Amulet Keepers. Don’t start Book of the Dead unless you have time to finish the entire book in one sitting because you will not want to put it down. Readers who want to learn more about ancient Egypt should also read the nonfiction book, The Curse of King Tut’s Mummy by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

The Stung Man was a thief who was running from the pharaoh’s men. The thief’s “hiding spot was full of scorpions. . . The thief was stung again and again, all over his body; his legs, his torso, his arms, his neck. His face.” When the pharaoh’s men found the thief, he was “swollen past recognition.” The Stung Man comes back to life.
During the night, a boy named Hamadi went to fetch water for his sick sister. As he walked, he heard a strange noise and then “a withered hand flashed across his vision like a cobra striking. . . Silence finally fell over the southern desert, and dawn rose. . . In the heart of the village, one family hadn’t slept at all. . . Now they waited for a boy who would never return.”
A man wearing a dried hyena face breaks into a museum and confronts the guard. “The man in the mask raised his hand and Oscar felt his fingers crunch, jammed backward as if he’d thrust them into a concrete wall instead of empty air. Gasping from the pain, he tried to pull his hand back but couldn’t.” The guard is frozen in place.
A mysterious man, Al-Dab’u, finds Alex’s mom, Dr. Bauer, alone in the museum. “His right hand shot out, flexing a power much greater than mere muscle. Dr. Bauer’s feet left the ground and her slender frame flew backward and slammed against the wall.” Al-Dab’u kidnaps Dr. Bauer.
When running from the Stung Man, Al-Dab’u sees Alex and Ren and orders them to stop. Ren tries to run but, “the man in the mask extended his right hand, palm down, and pressed it toward the floor. A great force hit Alex and Ren and flattened them against the ground.”
When the strange man stops the kids from running, he explains that the Stung Man was going to feed on Alex and Ren. The man says, “He may not consume your bodies, but he will certainly take your souls.”
When the kids continue to leave the museum, Al-Dab’u uses magic. “Alex and Ren threw themselves on the ground just as a massive display case hurtled over them and landed in a crash of glass and metal.” The museum scene is described over 12 pages.
Al-Dab’u helps the Stung Man recreate his tomb. A professor, Todtman, and the kids try to stop them. Al-Dab’u uses his power to begin crushing Todtman and a construction worker runs “with his shovel raised in the air . . . Todtman’s hand already held his falcon amulet. The worker slammed the shovel into Al-Dab’u’s shoulder, sending him reeling.” This scene is described over two pages.
The Stung Man tries to kill Alex. “The Stung Man struck out with his left hand. The stinger flew toward Alex on the end of a long, segmented tail. Alex ducked. . . the stinger shot over his shoulder and slammed into the wall behind him.”
In order to defeat the Stung Man, Alex uses a spell from the Book of the Dead. “As Alex chanted, the writing seemed to come alive on the page. . .” The Stung Man’s “skin pulled tight on his skull, threatening to split. . . Alex finished the chant. The dried corpse toppled and fell.” The scene is described over three pages.
As the kids leave the recreated tomb, they see a group of construction workers “closing in on Al-Dab’u from the left with a raised hammer. Another approaching from the right with a power drill. . . Al-Dab’u extended his hand menacingly as the workers closed in, first twisting one to the floor, then crushing the breath from another, but he was surrounded and couldn’t take them all at once.” Al-Dab’u runs but falls off a platform. The story implies that Al-Dab’u died.

Drugs and Alcohol

Alex has an unnamed illness that he takes pills for.
After Alex gets into a fight, he sees double so he “took three aspirin.”
One of the adults takes “headache pills” once.

Language

Oh my God is used as an exclamation once.
Heck is used twice.
Ren calls Alex an idiot one time.

Supernatural

Alex’s mom uses an ancient book, the Book of the Dead, to bring Alex back to life. The Book of the Dead is “a cross between prayers and spells” that are used to help people “cross over into the afterlife.” The words of the spells are not given.
When Alex’s mom chants a spell from the Book of the Dead, “The desert breeze became a strong wind, whipping through the little [hospital] room.” She also heard “phantom whispers, dry and raspy, emerging from the air itself and echoing her words.” Alex’s mom feels the “old magic” flow through her and save her son’s life.
The ancient Egyptians believed that after one died, their heart was weighed. Alex explains some hieroglyphics that depict a scale with a feather on one side and a heart on the other side. Alex says, “That dude just died, and he’s waiting to see if his heart passes the test. If it’s not weighed down by bad deeds, it will be as light as a feather, and he can enter the afterlife.” If the heart fails, it is fed to “a large, crocodile-headed creature.”
After reciting a spell from the Book of the Dead, ancient Egyptians begin to rise from the dead. Alex and his friend are in the museum when they hear a strange noise. “They both turned and looked back down at the little mummy. She was looking right at them. Her whole body had shifted, and her empty eye sockets gazed blankly up at them.”
When the Stung Man comes back to life, his skin “was livid and covered with swollen welts. The Stung Man turned and stared into the room, not with empty eye sockets but with wet, sinister eyes.”
Several of the characters have an amulet that gives them power. A man explains, “All of them can do certain things. Move small objects. . . but mine, well, I can see things quite clearly sometimes. When the power went out, I knew to go straight to the sarcophagus. I can also control people to an extent.”
Alex has an amulet that allows him to fight Al-Dab’u and the undead. “Grasping the scarab, Alex punched out his fist. A powerful gust of wind rose up and battered the ragged corpse, who stumbled and faltered against it.”

Spiritual Content

None

Mia Mayhem Gets X-Ray Specs

Mia Mayhem is learning to control her x-ray vision! She can’t wait to see through walls and crack secret codes. There’s only one problem: her glasses are way too big, clunky, and totally not cool! But she knows that if she wants to keep up with her classmates, she’ll have to adjust quickly. Will Mia be able to look past her obstacles and see things through?

A large part of the storyline follows Mia and her classmates as they try their supervision. Mia doesn’t want to admit that she doesn’t have x-ray vision. Instead of being truthful, she lies and says she sees “an elephant with a hot dog.” In the end, Mia learns that she “should have never guessed during the eye exam and pretended to know something when [she] didn’t.”

Mia Mayhem Gets X-Ray Specs has a diverse cast of characters which includes a girl who wears prosthetics. In addition, Ben and his seeing-eye dog, Seeker, make an appearance, which gives an added dose of interest. Readers will note how Seeker assists Ben. The story also shows how Ben’s blindness helps him hone his other senses, which in turn helps him with this supervision.

Young readers will enjoy the book’s format which has oversized text and black and white illustrations on every page. The large illustrations are often humorous, and they also help readers follow the story’s plot. Mia Mayhem Gets X-Ray Specs has an easy-to-understand plot that is perfect for emerging readers. However, some readers will need help with some of the advanced languages, with words such as connection, recognize, squinting, and officially.

Readers who are ready for chapter books will enjoy the silly storyline in Mia Mayhem Gets X-Ray Specs. Mia’s enthusiasm and friendliness make her a fun and likable protagonist. Even though Mia Mayhem Gets X-Ray Specs is part of a series, the books do not need to be read in order. While the story doesn’t have any life lessons, the Mia Mayhem Series will make emerging readers excited to see what type of mischief Mia gets into next, and with 12+ books in the series, readers will have plenty of adventure to look forward to.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

A boy yells at Mia, “Nice job using your loser vision.”

Supernatural

Mia finds out that “super-sight usually kicks in at age eight. . . You’ll soon be able to do awesome things like x-ray through walls and see in absolute darkness.” Later, she stares at a wall and then “a blast of heat lasers came out of my eyes! In just one shot, I burned through five walls. . .”
Because Ben is blind, he uses his other super senses such as being able to feel vibrations that lead him to his seeing-eye dog. Ben says, “I may not have regular vision like you, but I’m sensitive to echoes.”

Spiritual Content