The Call (The Magnificent 12 Book 1)

The Call (The Magnificent 12 Book 1), by Michael Grant (2010), is one of the best books I've ever read! It falls into the top five most favorite books of my life! It combines the outrageous, the impossible, the amazing, and the hilarical into one thing. It's a fantasy book gone mad!

A very ordinary kid named Mack gets himself in hot water with his school's head bully, Stefan. When Stefan accidentally punches his fist through thick glass (instead of Mack's head, as planned), Mac ends up saving him from bleeding to death. Stefan decides to take Mack under his wing....and then Grimlock, a weird guy, old and stinky who sort of looks like like a ghost, appears and things start going nuts. This old guy has plans for Mack, plans that involve defeating an ancient evil that was imprisoned for three thousand years...the Pale Queen!!! aka the Dreaded Foe!!!

So Mack, with his bodyguard, Stefan, are whisked off on an airplane to Australia...but things go wrong (in an ancient evil returning sort of way), and the boys are almost killed. Will the spell Mack learned from Grimlock save them, or will one of Mac's phobias come true, and he'll get eaten by sharks? Find out in THE MAGNIFICENT 12 THE CALL!

Grimlock's story about his fight with the Pale Queen is told in separate chapters, and it was sometimes a bit confusing. But that was the only thing wrong with the book.

I recommend this for all kids my age! A very good choice if you are in a local bookstore and have the money to buy it!

There's also a cool website, with games and information about the characters and places and objects--here it is.