When her training as the hunter of an ancient foe is disrupted by an attack on her father’s life and a corrupt Viking Council, Abby embarks on a dangerous quest for answers that pits her against such adversaries as a Ping-Pong-playing sea monster and a bingo-loving dark Valkyrie. Simultaneous eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)
"Abby Beckett is proud to come from a long line of elite Viking warriors known as the Aesir. She's spent her entire life training to hunt the horrific creatures known as Grendels-the ancient foe of the Aesir...But there's just one, small problem: No one has seen a Grendel in centuries, and the Viking Council wants to disband the Aesir... Abby is forced to take refuge at Vale Hall, a mysterious school...where nothing is quite as it seems. She soon discovers the tables have turned and a Grendel is hunting her"-- - (Baker & Taylor)
"Fans of books like The Lightning Thief will enjoy this fast-paced mythological fantasy, and will beg for more adventures with Abby. Sure to be a hard title to keep on the shelf." --School Library Journal
Twelve-year-old Abby Beckett is proud to come from a long line of elite Viking warriors known as the Aesir. She's spent her entire life training to hunt the horrific creatures known as Grendels-the ancient foe of the Aesir-just like her mother did before she died. But there's just one, small problem: No one has seen a Grendel in centuries, and the Viking Council wants to disband the Aesir . . . forever.
When her father is injured in an attack that leaves him in a coma, Abby is forced to take refuge at Vale Hall, a mysterious school in Minnesota where nothing is quite as it seems. She soon discovers the tables have turned and a Grendel is hunting her, but when she tries to alert the Viking Council, they accuse her of making up stories for attention . . . just like her mother did.
Desperate to protect her father and clear her mother's name, Abby goes on a dangerous quest to discover the truth--a journey that brings her face-to-face with some unlikely foes, including a Ping-Pong-playing sea monster with a wicked backhand, and a dark Valkyrie with a fondness for bingo. Abby quickly realizes that someone at the school is trying to stop her progress and destroy the Aesir for good. And only she can unravel the sinister plot before it's too late.
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Scholastic)
Sam Subity loves writing stories that explore the magic and wonder of being a kid and is thrilled to share his debut novel with readers everywhere -- both the young in age and the young at heart. When he's not writing, you might find him running the trails of Northern California, where the endless, winding miles past fog and ocean inspire stories of adventure and mystery. Or he might be mowing his lawn. Because that's what adults sometimes have to do. But in either case, he's very likely imagining himself fighting mythical creatures or at the prow of a Viking dragon ship, feeling the wind and sea spray on his face. His greatest hope is that in reading this book, you too were in some small way transported to another place where for a little while you could exchange the ordinary for the extraordinary.
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Scholastic)
Kirkus Reviews
Abby is your average 12-year-old North Carolinian—and Viking. She has been eager for years to follow in her mother's footsteps as an Aesir, or Viking warrior charged with protecting the world from Grendels, descendants of the same monster faced down by Beowulf. Still reeling from her mother's death four years ago, Abby is worried because she hasn't developed the unusual abilities needed by Aesirs. After she is attacked at home, she and her father head to Vale Hall, an elite Minnesota private school her mother also attended. Along the way they are attacked again, and her father falls into a mysterious coma. Abby is positive a Grendel is after her, but the Viking council at Vale Hall doesn't believe her. She quickly befriends Grimsby and Gwynn, each with their own burdens and secrets. Together they try to find a cure for her father, in the process uncovering secrets from her mother's past and discovering some truths hiding at Vale Hall. This entertaining debut novel seamlessly blends Norse mythology with a modern-day setting to tell an action-packed and humorous story. In addition, the book explores grief, growing up, and starting over with sensitivity and insight. Abby and most other characters are cued as White; Gwynn is described as Asian American. Fans of mythology-based fantasies will devour this adventure and anxiously await the next installment. (Fantasy. 10-12) Copyright Kirkus 2021 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 4–6—What do Vikings, Norse mythology, and a 12-year-old girl from North Carolina have in common? Much more than readers would assume. Abby Beckett, who is white with red hair, lives a normal life with her dad in a normal town—except for the fact that she trains with weapons so she can defend herself and her father from evil grendels. With enticing cliff-hangers and enough frightening encounters to make readers keep the lights on, kids will enjoy adventure, mythology, horror, and humor in this hodgepodge of entertainment. Abby must deal with the everyday afflictions of adolescence while attending a new school, trying to make new friends, and warding off evil grendels. With a lineage full of heroines to inspire her, Abby is determined to save what is physically and metaphorically left of her family tree. VERDICT Fans of books like The Lightning Thief will enjoy this fast-paced mythological fantasy, and will beg for more adventures with Abby. Sure to be a hard title to keep on the shelf.—Megan Honeycutt, Univ. of West Georgia, Carrollton
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal.
