A young boy in 1980s Ohio embarks on a harrowing journey of self-discovery in Rapino and Grate’s middle-grade coming-of-age novel.

It’s 1988, and it’s 11-year-old Tommy Grant’s last summer before entering junior high. It turns out to be a memorable season for all the wrong reasons, though, as his incessantly feuding parents mull over divorce and his best friend dumps him. Things don’t get better during the new school year, as bullies target him and he becomes a social outcast. Tommy takes solace in his fandom of Order of Cosmic Champions, a canceled animated SF TV series that lives on in comic books and action figures. He also pins his hopes on a contest in which a winning design for a new OoCC character could score him a college scholarship and the chance to see his design made into a toy. The eventual results of this competition lead him to a rash decision: to secretly travel to Brooklyn, New York, alone to convince a stranger to make a dream come true. Along with the inherent dangers of hitchhiking, the imaginative 12-year-old faces inner demons that manifest as menacing OoCC villains, including Mechani-Ghoul, the rather vicious robotic character that he created. He’ll have to fight off these baddies if he wants any shot at reaching his destination. Meanwhile, back in Ohio, Miranda Vitalis, a new girl in school who’s taken a shine to oblivious Tommy, is worried about him. As she hunts for clues to where he’s gone, she may have to confront his parents, who’ve all but ignored their now-runaway child.

The fantasy sequences in Rapino and Grate’s story revel in ambiguity. Readers may wonder if these battles are just playing out in Tommy’s head or if they’re somehow real, which the narrative hints is possible. Although these sequences are exhilarating, the novel is at its best when it centers on real-world troubles. Tommy’s father, for example, is losing a struggle with alcohol addiction, and some readers may find the accounts of bullying difficult to read. Likable, intelligent Miranda is a welcome reprieve from this darkness, and she has more in common with Tommy than either of them initially realizes. The authors root the story in familiar popular culture; the cartoon and toy line, for instance, have more than a passing resemblance to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The villains sport such names as Skullagar and EyeSpy, and Tommy’s own dazzling (and terrifying) bad guy has a metal claw and an arm that’s a giant cleaver. Likewise, references to popular films, video games, and classic ’80s tech, such as VHS tapes and the Sony Walkman, often appear. The authors’ prose colorfully details everything from fantastical clashes to Tommy’s breakfast: “The pancakes were as fluffy as cartoon clouds, and the maple syrup with tiny puddles of melting butter was ambrosia.” The lively story, however, never loses sight of its main theme, as Tommy grows up and learns that one can’t always fight change.

An earnest, entertaining tale of adolescence and fantasy fandom.