This was another book that I grabbed off the shelf at the local library to listen to on the way into work with Angel. I noticed it was written by David Barry's co-author for Peter and the Starcatchers. It was a short listen (comparatively to what we normally listen to) and featured Disney World. My wife loves the Disney parks so I figured we couldn't go wrong. We didn't. The book was a fun urban fantasy - part sci-fi, part magic and a lot of Disney. The book is a middle grade level novel but done well. I liked the premise and the characters were pretty good. I defiantly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read. Audible does carry this title. It was read by Gary Littman who did good impressions of young teenagers. Some of the voices came across as loader than others, so we had to adjust the volume sometimes, but his performance was well done.
Plot: In a new feat of holographic technology Disney's Magic Kingdom has launched the Disney Hosts Interactive (DHI), a project that makes use of daylight capable holograms that give tours to guests. They selected five kids to be recorded giving the tours and then created them in light. Finn, one of the five, was pressured to audition by his mother, but afterwards thought that it was a pretty cool initiative. However, not long after doing it he went to bed in his room and woke up in the Magic Kingdom as his holographic self talking to an old man. Apparently the DHIs were not just created to be the newest attraction at the park but to enable the Disney Imagineers to combat the villains and monsters that lurk in the minds of children. It turns out that believing is seeing and Disney has caused many people to believe. And not just in princesses and heroes, but also in the darker sides of stories. And it's up to the DHIs to keep that darker side from taking over.
My personal favorites: I liked how the actions the DHIs took when they "crossed over" affected them when they woke up. Finn's mother calls him out on his wet clothes and asks him about the stuff. They take a couple of days off from searching the park to spend time with their families. The adults were not idiots, stereotypical at times, but I can forgive that because of the genre. The action was entertaining and their were some fun fantastic elements mixed in.
Considerations: There is nothing in the book that I would object to a pre-teen or early teen reading. As a middle grade book they characters can't really do wrong. This isn't to say that problems don't arise. Just that they tend to guess right the first time on everything. As one of my old colleagues would say, it wasn't a cerebral as many other things out there. Still a fun story.
We'll see if the library carries any more in the series. I don't know if I would use a credit to get it on Audible, but who knows. Like Adventurers Wanted it was a good book, well written with age appropriate conflict and characters. The total length was just over 6 hours.
Plot: In a new feat of holographic technology Disney's Magic Kingdom has launched the Disney Hosts Interactive (DHI), a project that makes use of daylight capable holograms that give tours to guests. They selected five kids to be recorded giving the tours and then created them in light. Finn, one of the five, was pressured to audition by his mother, but afterwards thought that it was a pretty cool initiative. However, not long after doing it he went to bed in his room and woke up in the Magic Kingdom as his holographic self talking to an old man. Apparently the DHIs were not just created to be the newest attraction at the park but to enable the Disney Imagineers to combat the villains and monsters that lurk in the minds of children. It turns out that believing is seeing and Disney has caused many people to believe. And not just in princesses and heroes, but also in the darker sides of stories. And it's up to the DHIs to keep that darker side from taking over.My personal favorites: I liked how the actions the DHIs took when they "crossed over" affected them when they woke up. Finn's mother calls him out on his wet clothes and asks him about the stuff. They take a couple of days off from searching the park to spend time with their families. The adults were not idiots, stereotypical at times, but I can forgive that because of the genre. The action was entertaining and their were some fun fantastic elements mixed in.
Considerations: There is nothing in the book that I would object to a pre-teen or early teen reading. As a middle grade book they characters can't really do wrong. This isn't to say that problems don't arise. Just that they tend to guess right the first time on everything. As one of my old colleagues would say, it wasn't a cerebral as many other things out there. Still a fun story.
We'll see if the library carries any more in the series. I don't know if I would use a credit to get it on Audible, but who knows. Like Adventurers Wanted it was a good book, well written with age appropriate conflict and characters. The total length was just over 6 hours.
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