Book Review- M. T. Anderson- The Game of Sunken Places

M. T. Anderson- The Game of Sunken Places (Scholastic Inc. 2004) 3.5 Stars

This book seems like an interesting mixture of Jumanji and Lord of the Rings, or even Narnia. Brian and Gregory get and invitation in the mail to go to an Uncle’s mansion for a couple of weeks. Little do they know just how strange this mansion is and how odd their relative is. Something weird is going on and the young boys seem to be trapped in the middle of it, if only they knew what ‘it’ was. An adventure is in store whether they like it or not.

This was not an overly original idea, but how many books are now? The Game of Sunken Places starts off quite slow, making it a little bit difficult to read at first. Pacing goes up and down until the last quarter of the book when it picks up and finally grips your attention. I did like the basics of the ‘game’ that they were playing; it seemed like a creative way of bringing in old ideas to make something fresh. The characters were a little bit weak, not having a whole lot of development. It was a good plot, with some interesting twists at the end, although I would have liked to see more twists throughout the book.

Overall it was a pretty good book. I would recommend it to YA readers who like fantasy.

Tony Peters
Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping
www.tonypeters.webs.com