‘Between Worlds’ by Skip Brittenham book review

On Aug. 30, G. P. Putnam’s Sons released Skip Brittenham’s new middle-grade novel, Between Worlds, a book that comes with an app to interact with the fantasy creatures within through augmented reality. It’s a truly unique concept that hopes to get more kids reading. The story itself was a little bland and simple for my taste, but is appropriate for younger readers.

Marshall and Mayberry are outcasts in a small town high school who decide to make their day interesting by looking for a rumored wishing tree. They don’t believe the tales, but when they find the tree, it takes them to another world after they wish to be magic wielding superheroes. The alien world is beautiful but full of creatures that want to eat or enslave them. They find another human and work to save him and themselves, as well as to find a way home. Will they succeed?

The characters in this book seem to stumble around from situation to situation. Instead of action, we get detailed descriptions of every creature and every landscape. It’s more of a tell, not show, nature. The villainous creatures have no redeeming qualities and the main characters feel a bit like cardboard cutouts, making the story feel unrealistic and dull. Perhaps it’s just because the story is written for younger kids that it’s not as strong as a Young Adult or grownup novel, but I found myself slogging through it.

The interactive nature of the book was, however, incredibly interesting. The creatures the characters come across do different actions when you click on them and there are entries from Mayberry’s journal that expand on the story. I wish the book had lived up to the app. I love fantasy, but this one just kind of trudged along. What should have been exciting action scenes were over-descriptive and slow.

I’ve marked this book a 2, but if I had access to half-stars, I’d give it a 2.5. There are so many great middle-grade and young adult books on the market; for all of its magic, this one just doesn’t shine. It might impress young children who haven’t read the likes of A Series of Unfortunate Events or Harry Potter, but unless you think the app will entice your little one to read when they normally don’t, I wouldn’t bother.