Recently I read two kid-lit fantasy books that made me want to watch movies.
I have to qualify this statement a little bit. It’s not that these books were so awesomely written that you would want to watch a movie that was made from them. I only mean that one of them was written by a famous comic book artist and the other was commissioned by Disney and is already turned into a television show.
The first book is Convergence, which is the first book of the Zodiac Legacy, written by Stan Lee and Stuart Moore and illustrated by Andie Tong. Stan Lee is the creator of superheroes like Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man and the X-Men. So this book was full of his typical creativity.
Convergence centered around the story of a kid, Steven Lee, who follows some screams in the middle of a tour in China while visiting a museum, which is probably always a bad idea. In Steven’s case it introduced him to Maxwell, who is trying to steal all the zodiac powers so that he can rule the world. Instead, he accidentally gifts Steven with the Tiger power. Whoops.
So begins a war between Maxwell and his Zodiacs and Steven and the “good” Zodiacs. They are both trying to track down the other people who acquire zodiac powers.
One of the best features of this book was the illustrated pages—which had a comic book sort of feel and kept the pages turning faster. The story was written well enough—it wasn’t awesome, but it was really the imagination that went into creating this story that impressed me the most. I love the comic book world and superheroes and the way those types of stories get boys reading. I’m always a fan of getting boys reading. We’ll work on the literary stuff later, once we show them that stories are awesome.
After reading Convergence, though, I really wanted to go watch all the old superhero movies I’ve grown to love over the years. There’s something about the big screen that makes superheroes come alive. Convergence has a sequel, The Dragon’s Return, which I have not yet read.
The second book was The Isle of the Lost, by Melissa de la Cruz. I originally picked this book up because it was on the display shelf at my local library, and it looked interesting. It’s the first book in a relatively new series, The Descendants. The Isle of the Lost was the story of the children of popular fairy tale villains—like a second-generation fairy tale. It was published and commissioned by Disney, so Cruz was able to use all the names of the villains that we’ve seen in Disney fairy tales over the years. Characters included Maleficent’s daughter, Mal; the Evil Queen’s daughter, Evie; Jafar’s son, Jay; and Cruella de Ville’s son, Carlos. They are all banished from the kingdom of Auradon to the Isle of the Lost, where there is no magic or, really, anything good.
But back in Auradon, there is unrest, and on the isle, there are hints that magic just might be coming back to the isle—which means the villains might have another say so.
While this wasn’t a mind-blowing book, what I think kids will enjoy most about it is seeing familiar people in a new way. The villains are all grown up—and now their descendants are taking on the world their parents created for them. That’s one of the parts I liked most about it, too. There’s something special about feeling like you already know the characters but seeing them in a whole new way. I have not watched the television show, but I think this story, too, would come alive on the screen. And, like Convergence, The Isle of the Lost made me want to go re-watch some of the old fairy tales and Disney productions.
De la Cruz released the second book in this series, Return to the Isle of the Lost, in May.
I hope you enjoyed these book recommendations. Be sure to pick up a free book from my starter library and visit my recommends page to see some of my favorite books. If you have any books you recently read that you think I’d enjoy, contact me. I always enjoy adding to my list. Even if I never get through it all.
