Autumn 2005 Review:

        The Revenge of the Shadow King by Derek Benz and J. S. Lewis is an enthralling novel. It is about four characters, Max, Harley, Ernie, and Natalia, who form their own secret club. This club is called the Grey Griffins. The story takes place in a town in Minnesota. The people living there don’t seem to notice that strange occurrences keep cropping up. Creatures such as goblins and fairies start to appear in Max’s backyard. These creatures coincidentally are from the card game that the Grey Griffins play. The friends all know that something isn’t quite right in their Minnesota town when these creatures keep surfacing, and they know that it is up to them to do something about it.

      I thought that this book was very entertaining and suspenseful. There are new twists and turns on every page. I found that this book was impossible to put down, and I can’t wait for the next installment in the series! The story was very believable, and the characters are easy to relate to. I would recommend this book to middle school students. It is similar to books such as the Spiderwick series. I believe that anyone who reads this book will feel the same way about it as I do.

- Jon Wallace, eighth grade, Boardman Center Middle School