Sucked into a mechanical board game and forced to defeat its diabolical architect in order to free themselves and others trapped with them, 12-year-old Farah and her two best friends receive assistance from a lizard guide and an aeronaut while battling fantastical beasts and solving difficult puzzles. Simultaneous eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

Sucked into a mechanical board game, twelve-year-old Farah and her two friends battle fantastical beasts and solve difficult puzzles with their lizard guide and an aeronaut, trying to outwit the game's diabolical architect to gain their freedom. - (Baker & Taylor)

When twelve-year-old Farah and her two best friends get sucked into a mechanical board game called The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand, a puzzle game akin to a large Rubik's cube, they know it is up to them to defeat the game's diabolical architect in order to save themselves and those who are trapped inside, including her baby brother Ahmed. - (Baker & Taylor)

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that’s a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Eastern flair.

Nothing can prepare you for The Gauntlet…

It didn’t look dangerous, exactly. When twelve-year-old Farah first laid eyes on the old-fashioned board game, she thought it looked…elegant.

It is made of wood, etched with exquisite images—a palace with domes and turrets, lattice-work windows that cast eerie shadows, a large spider—and at the very center of its cover, in broad letters, is written: The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand.

The Gauntlet is more than a game, though. It is the most ancient, the most dangerous kind of magic. It holds worlds inside worlds. And it takes players as prisoners. - (Simon and Schuster)

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that's a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Eastern flair.

Nothing can prepare you for The Gauntlet"

It didn't look dangerous, exactly. When twelve-year-old Farah first laid eyes on the old-fashioned board game, she thought it looked'elegant.

It is made of wood, etched with exquisite images'a palace with domes and turrets, lattice-work windows that cast eerie shadows, a large spider'and at the very center of its cover, in broad letters, is written: The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand.

The Gauntlet is more than a game, though. It is the most ancient, the most dangerous kind of magic. It holds worlds inside worlds. And it takes players as prisoners. - (Simon and Schuster)

Karuna Riazi is a born and raised New Yorker, with a loving, large extended family and the rather trying experience of being the eldest sibling in her particular clan. Besides pursuing a BA in English literature from Hofstra University, she is an online diversity advocate, blogger, and publishing intern. Karuna is fond of tea, baking new delectable treats for friends and family to relish, Korean dramas, and writing about tough girls forging their own paths toward their destinies. She is the author of The Gauntlet and The Battle. - (Simon and Schuster)

Karuna Riazi is a born and raised New Yorker, with a loving, large extended family and the rather trying experience of being the eldest sibling in her particular clan. Besides pursuing a BA in English literature from Hofstra University, she is an online diversity advocate, blogger, and publishing intern. Karuna is fond of tea, baking new delectable treats for friends and family to relish, Korean dramas, and writing about tough girls forging their own paths toward their destinies. She is the author of The Gauntlet and The Battle. - (Simon and Schuster)

Booklist Reviews

In the Mirza family, games are a serious business. Ever since Farah's little brother, Ahmad, was diagnosed with ADHD, Farah's expected to perform her older-sibling duty and lose to her brother every time they play. This is annoying enough, but Farah's family has recently moved from Queens to the Upper East Side, and Farah's worried about the sudden distance she feels growing between her and her best friends, Alex and Essie. When a beautiful, old-fashioned board game called the Gauntlet of Blood and Sand shows up on Farah's birthday, she's intrigued—until Ahmad is sucked into the game. Farah, Essie, and Alex follow, landing in a colorful desert city where they must play the game to find Ahmad and rescue themselves. Jumanji meets Spy Kids in this action-packed story that features a Muslim heroine. Secondary characters read a bit flat—Farah is much more lifelike than either of her friends—but creative, intricate world building and the interesting mythology behind the game itself more than make up for that. An exciting, clever debut. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

On her twelfth birthday, Muslim girl Farah receives a board game that sucks her, her younger brother, and her friends inside. There, they must solve timed puzzles or be trapped forever. The fast-paced adventure plot could easily dominate the novel (which is part Jumanji, part Bangladeshi fairy tale) but is instead balanced with Farah's love for her brother and friends and her sense of compassion. Copyright 2017 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

A young hijabi finds herself, her brother, and her friends trapped in a very dangerous game.Upper East Side Bangladeshi-American Farah's having a hard time clicking with her old friends from Queens when they come to her 12th birthday party. But when her trying-but-adorable little brother—he has ADHD—vanishes into a mysterious board game called The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand, white Essie and brown-skinned Alex don't hesitate to join Farah in jumping in to rescue him. Once in the game, they are given three challenges—and failure to win all three will trap them there. Farah's desperation to find Ahmad heightens these deadly stakes. In her debut, Riazi gives readers a Muslim protagonist who resists genre clichés: she's resolute rather than feisty, smart but aware of her weaknesses. Secondary characterization is not so strong; Essie and Alex seem more types than people. The superb worldbuilding offers an ever shifting topography, rather like an Escher vision of the East. Riazi's lush descriptions reject exoticization, Farah's cultural familiarity positioning readers within her perspective: a "sweet sunset pink mosque, beautifully domed and proudly placed," reminds her of buildings she's seen in Bangladesh and India, "sharing a linked history of wide arches and rounded roofs." Riazi combines such tropes as a magic map with the winningly original lizard Resistance corps, offering just the right mix of familiarity and newness. A solid middle-grade fantasy and an auspicious debut. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus 2017 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 3–6—At Farah's 12th birthday party, she mistakenly receives an odd mechanical board game called The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand from her aunt. Despite Aunt Zohra's warnings, Farah and her friends Essie and Alex are sucked into the game and must battle the evil Lord Amari and win in order to save themselves and retrieve Farah's seven-year-old brother, Ahmad. The fast-paced game is structured with three challenges and a timed race from location to location, complete with a map and magical timepiece. The challenges are innovative and based on classic games such as mancala and Scrabble. Although the book is accessible to younger middle grade readers, the characters feel rather formulaic and don't develop much over the course of the story. Readers may find Ahmad's spoiled cheekiness grating (as well as the family tradition of always letting him win at games), but fortunately he is absent for the majority of the work. However, Riazi skillfully incorporates elements of Farah's Bangladeshi culture into the landscape of Farah's real-world New York City home and the magical realm of Paheli, where the game takes place. VERDICT Though die-hard fantasy fans may be a bit underwhelmed with the characterization and world-building, most middle grade readers will appreciate the adventure and embrace a tale with a strong protagonist of color.—Erin Reilly-Sanders, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI