I have been so excited to get my hands on Julie Kagawa's middle-grade debut, SHINJI TAKAHASHI AND THE MARK OF THE COATL, hailed as the best new series for fans of Percy Jackson and Disney. This book crosses so many Ts for me! I've never read Kagawa, but have always wanted to. I love books steeped in mythology, and am always looking for "The Next Percy Jackson." I love the fact that the book includes "the Society of Explorers and Adventurers lore that exist across the Walt Disney Parks." This is absolutely going to be a book kids fall in love with and clamor to get their hands on with each new installment.
That said, it was a really hard read for me personally, only because I'm hugely arachnophobic. I thought I would be okay despite the Prologue (which you can read below) and a later scene with a bad guy who was possessed in a very specific way. But I got a hundred pages in and a dream started and I realized I wasn't going to be able to handle this book without nightmares for weeks. But that's just me personally. It isn't going to bother most people. However, that's the reason why today's review is a mini, instead of a full one.
I do think kids will really enjoy the series. It's full of questing and adventure and danger. It co-stars Lucy, a brilliant STEM girl, who create the most amazing tech, and our title character, Shinji, who is drawn to a Coatl totem that is about to turn his life upside down. He finds the Coatl in an old antique shop while at a market with his Aunt Yui, and soon, dangerous men are after him and the Coatl turns into a tattoo on his arm. Shinji is kidnapped and brought Hightower Corporation, where he meets Lucy. The two break out and head from New York City across the USA to Anaheim, California in search of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers (SEA). SEA and Hightower are mortal enemies, and while one wants to protect Shinji and remove the curse placed on him by the Coatl, the other will stop at nothing to possess the Coatl and claim untapped magic for themselves -- even if it means Shinji's demise.
I was invested in Shinji and the story from the very beginning. The book starts off with a bang, full of all the markers that make the very best middle-grade adventures and become hard to put down early on! It also had all the intrigue I love from books such as Kingdom Keepers that tie Disney lore into "reality" and bring the magic to life. While I didn't get to the parts with mythology, they are also at play in the book, another element I love in middle-grade fiction. All in all, SHINJI TAKAHASHI AND THE MARK OF THE COATL is sure to become a staple for young readers looking for spunky new heroes to relate to and root for!
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Check out an excerpt containing the Prologue below:
Prologue
Flames roared and snapped in the night.
The wail of sirens filled the air, lights flashing red, blue, and white, as men and vehicles surrounded the inferno. Even the rain that fell from the sky could not snuff out the howling flames. The simple suburban home with the quaint picket fence blazed like a fireball against the darkness, drawing the eye of everyone in the neighborhood. Policemen held back the crowds as firefighters sprayed jets of water onto the roof of the burning house, sending huge billows of smoke into the air.
Unnoticed and unseen by everyone, a large black spider crawled through the window of the doomed house, scuttling away through the wet grass. Firefighters raced back and forth, their booted feet pounding the mud, but the spider deftly avoided being crushed. It paused, hiding beneath an overturned tricycle, as the front door burst open and a firefighter stumbled out of the burning house. Coughing, shoulders hunched, the man held a wrapped bundle close to his chest, shielding it with his body as he staggered into the open. As the spider watched, crouched below the handlebars, two more firefighters hurried forward to help. The first man lowered his arms, revealing the dirty, tear-streaked face of a small boy, dark hair falling into his eyes. One of the firefighters drew in a sharp breath.
“Is he the only one?” The man’s voice was low, barely audible over the roar of the flames and the jerky, gasping sobs of the child. “His parents?”
The firefighter holding the boy closed his eyes and shook his head. “They didn’t make it.”
The other’s shoulders slumped. “Poor kid. Well, let’s get him to the EMTs. Hopefully he has relatives that can take him in.”
They walked away, the boy’s sobs fading into the night. The spider crawled out from beneath the tricycle and scuttled away, toward the crowd of people watching the firemen battle the flames. It scurried around feet and crawled over shoes, until it reached the edge of the crowd, where a lone, hooded figure watched from the shadows. The figure held a black umbrella, its face hidden in the hood of its raincoat as it gazed at the burning house and the firemen still rushing around it.
The spider crawled onto the figure’s shoe, then scuttled up its leg, vanishing beneath the hem of its coat. A few seconds later, it crawled out from beneath the collar and perched on the slender neck. Mandibles waving, it made a faint chittering sound that could not be heard by the normal human ear.
Beneath the hood, the figure’s bloodred lips curved up in a smile.
“Excellent,” it whispered. “The piece has been found. The game has been set into motion.” Turning from the burning house, it began to walk into the dark, though its final words hung in the air. “I will see you soon, Shinji Takahashi.”
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
SHINJI TAKAHASHI AND THE MARK OF THE COATL is the first book in a globe-trotting adventure that combines high-tech wizardry, old-world legends and a little bit of magic.
Together Shinji and Lucy turn to the venerable Society of Explorers and Adventurers and its ragtag cast of spelunkers, hackers, mapmakers, pilots, and mythology experts (among other things) to return the guardian to its rightful home and release Shinji from its magic—which seems to be draining his life force. Time is ticking, the Hightower Corporation is hot on their tail, and success or failure might depend on one small thing—Shinji finally coming around to the belief that he is anything but ordinary.
Based on the Society of Explorers and Adventurers lore that exist across the Walt Disney Parks, SHINJI TAKAHASHI AND THE MARK OF THE COATL is the first book in an all-new action-adventure series that brings S.E.A. into the twenty-first century through a blend of science and magic, and a focus on two young characters on an epic journey through time and place.
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Enter now!
TOUR SCHEDULE
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
4/1/2022 | Excerpt | |
4/2/2022 | Excerpt |
Week Two:
4/3/2022 | Review | |
4/4/2022 | Excerpt/IG Post | |
4/5/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/6/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/7/2022 | Review | |
4/8/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/9/2022 | Review/IG Post |
Week Three:
4/10/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/11/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/12/2022 | Review | |
4/13/2022 | Review | |
4/14/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/15/2022 | Review | |
4/16/2022 | Review |
Week Four:
4/17/2022 | Review | |
4/18/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/19/2022 | Review | |
4/20/2022 | Review | |
4/21/2022 | Review | |
4/22/2022 | Review | |
4/23/2022 | Review/IG Post |
Week Five:
4/24/2022 | IG Spotlight | |
4/25/2022 | Review/IG Post/TikTok Post | |
4/26/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/27/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/28/2022 | Review | |
4/29/2022 | Review/IG Post | |
4/30/2022 | Review/IG Post |
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