Bad Unicorn

Gr 8 Up—This rollicking urban fantasy takes place in several different worlds, in several different time periods. Max Spencer is a middle school student in Smalltown, USA. He and his friend Dirk are appealing nerds who accidentally end up transporting themselves, their friend Sarah, and a magic-store owner/dwarf to their future world-a world populated by self-aware machines and ruled by the maniacal unicorn "Princess," who rose to power after wiping out the human race. Now Max needs to learn how to harness the Codex of Infinite Knowability in time to be the victor in a gladiator-style fight to the death while his friends train an army of frobbits to come to his aid, all in an effort to go back in time and save humanity. With a cast of lovable characters (even Princess is a lot of fun) and a fast-paced plot, this book is sure to please readers. Zombie ducks, frobbits, wisecracking daggers, and an intelligent arcade game from the '80s give this story a wonderfully eccentric flair reminiscent of Libba Bray's Going Bovine (Delacorte, 2009). A great addition to any library.—Sunnie Sette, New Haven Public Library, CT