July 1, 2016
Gr 1-3-A new chapter book series that follows Jack, a 10-year-old who has just discovered that in times of great stress he transforms into Thud, the amazing wrestling troll. Jack has also recently accepted employment as a wrestling troll trainer. With his newfound band of comrades, Jack (or Thud, depending on the situation) travels the land, righting wrongs, saving princesses, and generally fixing every problem by wrestling. The series' premise is disjointed; it feels as though topics were drawn at random and forced into each narrative. The plots are dull, and the writing is tedious; even action scenes struggle to engage readers. The characters are especially bland-a homogeneous cast with scant personality. Each book contains two separate stories with pages of activities in-between, making these less attractive selections for school and public libraries. VERDICT Utterly unremarkable. Pass on this series except where readers are desperate for stories involving wrestling.-Taylor Worley, Springfield Public Library, OR
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