THE EVER BREATH

Fantasy aficionados will gobble up this fast-paced tale, but others may find the jam-packed plot more difficult to digest, as it plunges readers directly into the action and offers little detail to clarify characters and events. Scrawny, sniffling Truman and his twin sister, Camille, are unceremoniously dumped with their grandmother over the holidays. In short order Truman is dispatched to search for a magical object, the Ever Breath. This clear globe resides in the space between the everyday world and a magical one. Without it, both worlds will perish. Truman, magically cured of his allergies, is befriended by a cat-shaped creature called Praddle, a mixed-up revolutionary, a snippy waiter, an ogre and a mouse. Together this motley crew evades monstrous magical creatures and searches for the Ever Breath. Camille is relegated to a supporting (and sneezing) role, but both twins manage to get in on the final action when they rescue their missing father and save the world(s). Baggott’s brisk prose propels readers through a tale that feels like a stepping-stone between Spiderwick and Harry Potter. (Fantasy. 9-12)