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Riggs, Ransom

Sunderworld, Vol. 1: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry

336 pp. | Dutton | August, 2024 | Trade ISBN 9780593530931 $21.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780593530955 $10.99
(2) YA Leopold Berry lives in Los Angeles in a world like our own, but since his mother's death when he was twelve, he has experienced dissociative episodes in which he sees unbelievable things, such as a winged parking attendant or a rain cloud chasing a fruit vendor. He thinks of these moments as "Seeing into Sunder" after the short-lived TV show Max's Adventures in Sunderworld, on whose VHS tapes he fixates. Now seventeen, Leopold is adrift, a constant disappointment to his emotionally abusive father, until a raccoon hands him a token for a decommissioned Angels Flight Railway tram that takes him and his best friend to the not-so-imaginary land of Sunder Hill. There Leopold leaps at the chance to prove he's a channeler, the "most powerful magical being on the planet," but things go horribly, publicly awry. Just when everything seems lost, a note from Leopold's late mother sends him on a treasure hunt through his childhood memories, leading to a discovery that changes everything. Fast-paced and inventive, this gateway fantasy has the grubby, off-kilter realism of a Chuck E. Cheese and a satirical nod to reality TV, with first-rate characters that will hook and charm readers. The treasure hunt celebrates L.A. landmarks, and constant new developments keep readers on the edges of their seats, hoping for Leopold's vindication -- and waiting for the next episode in this projected new series.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

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