DOPPELGANGER DANGER

Back on their own planet, a group of middle school friends aren’t done trying to save the multiverse—and the multiverse isn’t done with them either.

After an unexpected detour at the tail end of their previous adventure, Dev Khatri, Maeve Greene, Tessa Hawthorne-Scott, Lewis Wynner, and Isaiah Yoon have made their way back to central Ohio’s Conroy Middle School and their lives on Earth, a Dimension14 planet. But unbeknown to the Conroy Cadets marching band members, Maeve’s doppelgänger, Em, has tagged along, escaping the wasteland universe she’d been banished to. While being home and reuniting with family in a more familiar, less giant monster–filled environment has its perks, the pull for the original five kids—plus Tessa’s twin, Zoey, who resents being secretly replaced in the first book—to return to their multiversal hijinks is strong. Not to mention that Em’s constant plotting to get back in the good graces of her planet-destroying family may mean major threats from before are still at play. The warm rapport and slapstick humor the Cadets share is even stronger in this second series entry, as they’ve matured in their grasp of all things multiverse while maintaining an endearing commitment to middle school concerns. Band practice is just as important as closing interdimensional holes, and if a so-called evil doppelgänger can offer a caring, world-shattering touch when needed, hypercompetitive twin sisters might be able to figure it out too. Ethnicity is largely cued through names.

Savvy fun fit for any universe.