The Stuff of Legend

Gr 5 Up—Most children can remember losing a favorite toy, but what happens when a group of favorite toys lose their boy? The Colonel and his hastily assembled team of rescuers enter "the Dark"—the mysterious world inside a closet, embarking on a mission to save the child. Once inside, they are up against the nearly unstoppable Boogeyman, a creature made from nightmares who has his own designs on the boy. After a trip to the city of Hopscotch, where life is nothing but a game, the toys are branded "rule breakers" and forced into a game they may not be able to win. This eerie graphic novel, set in a quiet Brooklyn home in 1944, uses muted sepia tones and realistic artwork to present the unimaginable world the protagonists are thrust into. From the insane Jester's murderous glee to Max the Bear's raging ferocity, readers can see every emotion on the characters' faces. It almost feels like a children's story gone horribly wrong in the most wonderful way. The images of battles and violence are definitely not for the timid.—Ryan Donovan, New York Public Library