Boots and the Seven Leaguers

Boots and the Seven Leaguers is a good-fun middle grade novel about a teenaged troll named Gog whose only wish is to attend the concert of his favorite Rock-and-Troll band. Thanks to his younger brother, Magog (who is smarter than your average troll), Gog and his friend finagle jobs as roadies setting up the concert in order to earn comp tickets. Unfortunately, while they work, Magog is abducted by the mysterious Huntsman and taken to the heart of the forest, origin of nightmarish bedtime stories and home to the feared White Wyrm. As he rushes to rescue his little brother, Gog must face traps and dangers with his less-than-stellar troll intellect. Along the way, he even manages to uncover a large-scale conspiracy. I liked this book, but much of it fell flat for me because even as he claims stupidity, Gog actually does very smart, un-trollish things. Even his Pookah friend–who is supposed to be capricious and unreliable–is doggedly loyal and plays a total of 0 tricks on Gog in the story (supposedly his trademark). That said, Gog is your typical teen (does that make all teens trolls?), and I would absolutely recommend this book to the middle school set as an adventure that plays up the value of family, determination, and self-confidence. Yolen's twist on the world of Faerie and Gog's commentary on the way his society functions also make for an entertaining read.