Dahl, Michael.  Twilight of the Gods.  Capstone Publishers  2017       56p  $20.49  ISBN 978-1-4965-3489-7  elem/ms  Series: Norse Myths  Graphic novel  VG-BN

The Norse gods of the heavenly realm of Asgard face their final battle when they have to fight their mortal enemies, the giants of Ragnarok. In this retelling of a story from Norse mythology, author Dahl has teamed up with a fabulous Mexican artist named Eduardo Garcia. The drawings are full of detail and fire, especially the ones showing battle scenes. The story is divided into chapters to help with plot organization, and there are discussion questions, writing prompts, a glossary, a note about the mythology, a listing of the gods and monsters, and notes about author and illustrator.
This one would be a great addition to graphic-novel collections for elementary and middle-school students.         

There are four books in this Norse Myths series.     

Summary: The Norse gods of the heavenly realm of Asgard face their final battle when they have to fight their mortal enemies, the giants of Ragnarok.

Norse mythology                                                                                                        --Carol Kennedy

Dahl, Michael. The Trouble With Abracadabra. (Hocus Pocus Hotel #4)

Dahl, Michael.  The Trouble With Abracadabra. (Hocus Pocus Hotel #4)  Capstone/Stone Arch 2013  112   ISBN 978-1-4342-4102-3  elem  Hardback    VG  Fantasy

This is the fourth title in the Hocus Pocus Hotel series.  Brack, the elevator operator, tells the public that he is also the magician Abracadabra and will be doing one final show.  He invites all the magicians to a party at his rooftop mansion.  There, Theopolis challenges Brack to figure out how he does his illusion.  The hotel and mansion are the prizes at stake.  Theopolis appears to juggle while being levitated over the pool, amid thick smoke and other special effects.  Brack, Charlie and Ty are perplexed as to how he did it.  They think about it and question people all week.  On the last day, Ty figures it out and the hotel is saved.  The solution is a bit too simple to have confused them for such a long time.

Supplemental material includes discussion questions, writing prompts, a glossary and one trick, easily mastered by a young magician, that is illustrated and explained.  The story is fast-paced and full of action.  Sentences are kept short and direct, and the vocabulary is simple to fit the needs of young readers.  This title will appeal to grades 2-6 and struggling older readers.  It is easy to read without seeming condescending.  Readers will enjoy the Hocus Pocus Hotel stories, and each one builds on the others with familiar characters.  It is highly recommended for grades 3-6.

Summary:  Fourth in the Hocus Pocus Hotel series.  Brack (a.k.a. Abracadabra) is faced with a challenge, with the hotel and his home on the line.  Ty and Charlie must figure out how a magic trick was done, and the solution is almost too simple. Elementary grades.           

Magic tricks-Fiction, Easy readers                                --Joan Theal

Dahl, Michael. Duel of Dragons. (Dragonborn series)

Dahl, Michael.    Duel of Dragons. (Dragonborn series)      Capstone/Stone Arch 72p $22.65  978-1-4342-4039-2     2013      elm/ms      VG    Fantasy    

When Sam meets others who have dragon blood like himself, they must do battle to determine a leader.  Duel of Dragons is the brief second installment in the Dragonborn series.  The story picks up several years after Sam Steven ran away from home to escape his parents, who chained him in a tower when he first exhibited signs of having dragon blood.  Now Sam has returned to his former prison and finds that the other dragon teens are waiting for him, hoping to find a leader.  Sam becomes fully dragon in order to fight, but the battle is interrupted by a rogue dragon who is able to flame, rather than rely on brute strength.  Leadership of the teen dragons remains undetermined.

Dahl’s text is comprised of a handful of sentences per page.  Readers receive a scene from a serialized novel, rather than a complete novel in one volume, and they are immediately thrown into the action.  The volume will appeal to elementary and middle-school readers, particularly reluctant readers.  Fluent readers may find the text too easy or even childish.  However, the volume has the right “look” for early-adolescent fantasy series, which may prompt a challenged reader to sample a new genre.

Luigi Aime’s illustrations are the book’s most appealing aspect.  Aime is an Italian artist who uses both traditional and digital media to create fantasy canvases.  From the dragons depicted on the endpaper through the full-color, dramatic dragon battles, Aime’s work will have readers and young artists poring over this volume again and again.          

Dragons–Fiction, Friendship-Fiction                   --Hilary Welliver

Dahl, Michael. Out the Rear Window. (Hotel Hocus Pocus series)

Dahl, Michael.    Out the Rear Window. (Hotel Hocus Pocus series)  Capstone/Stone Arch    112p  $23.99  978-1-4342-4038-5      2013  elm/ms  VG  Mystery/Detective

Tyler Yu and Charlie Hitchcock form an unlikely friendship in order to solve a magical mystery at the Abracadabra Hotel.       The great magician Abracadabra has named his mysterious hotel after himself.  Affectionately called the “Hocus Pocus Hotel”, the building houses more than its share of mysteries.   This time, a resident magician has vanished into thin air.  When tough guy Tyler Yu can’t figure it out on his own, he enlists Charlie Hitchcock, with his photographic memory, to help him. 

Dahl combines magic tricks and illusions and incorporates them smoothly into the mystery of the magician’s disappearance.  The explanations of the mirror tricks are further clarified by helpful illustrations, and a simple magic trick is included at the end of the book for readers to try.

Aspiring magicians and mystery fans alike will enjoy this mysterious tale, the first in a new series.

Magicians–Fiction, Magic tricks–Fiction, Hotels-Fiction.                                                                                  --Hilary Welliver

Dahl, Michael Green Lantern: Guardian of Earth

Dahl, Michael Green Lantern: Guardian of Earth  

Stone Arch see Capstone

            2011   48       25.32  978-1-4342-2611-2            

elm/ms           Science fiction            DCSuperheroes(Capstone)       VG-BNes         

Hal Jordan becomes the new Green Lantern,

Guardian of Earth, after a close encounter with a mysterious alien from a UFO.                    

From the ╥3-D╙ cover art, eye-catching endpapers and full-page illustrations,

through the inclusion of hand-lettered sound-effects in the text, this novel is

designed to be visually arresting.  Fans of the superhero comic genre ╨ as well

as reluctant (high-low) readers ╨ will make this volume fly off the shelf.  

 The release of a movie featuring the Green Lantern this summer will focus

interest on the new-to-this-generation superhero.  The story focuses on the

origin of Earth╒s first Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.  Hal is a test pilot, whose

jet takes a nosedive when it encounters a mysterious UFO.  The alien, who was

making an emergency landing on Earth due to injuries sustained in a recent

battle, rescues the aircraft, preventing a crash.  With his dying breath, the

alien announces that Hal is now the new Guardian of Earth, and gives him a green

ring with incredible powers.  The action-packed chapters are a mere 8-10 pages

long, in friendly font accompanied by lively comic-style graphic art.  A

glossary defines unfamiliar terms and is followed by discussion questions and

writing prompts.  

            Readers are also invited to visit two websites.  After drilling

through the links, the facthound.com link ties in to DC Comics website (which

was featuring Green Lantern at the time of this review). The capstonekids.com

website did not feature superheroes, which might disappoint some readers.

      This is not a graphic novel, but a brief novel with graphic/comic book

elements.    Welliver, Hilary