Review: Peter Nimble by Jonathan Auxier

After reading Peter Nimble and his Fantasic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier one word came to mind, “epic”. I decided to google the word to figure out if it truly fit the feelings that I was having towards the book.  After sifting through countless definitions on many websites I decided that this book is in fact epic.  The definition that best matched my feelings was: heroic and impressive in quality.  I feel that Peter truly was heroic and the writing was extremely impressive in quality.

I generally don’t read book that are  close to 400 pages.  Most of my fourth graders tend to not be ready or interested in books of that size, and the students that are ready tend to have their own titles in mind.  After recieving an ARC in the mail I decided to give Peter a chance.

I am in love with this epic quest.  Peter is a blind orphan that was found floating in the ocean eyeless.  His eyes pecked out by a raven.  He spends his life working as a thief for a man that treats him like dirt. One day he  steals a box containing three pairs of eyes from a mysterious traveler.  His curiosity gets the better of him and he slips one pair into his empty sockets.  Instantly he is transported to an unknown island. That is where his quest begins. I’m not going to go any more into the plot.  I went into this book knowing very little, and I feel that you would benefit from uncovering his quest as you read.

Being a reader of shorter middle grade books at times I struggle to stay focused on longer text,  but this book felt like a 400 page sprint.  The action was often and exciting while at the same time developing beautiful characters and an awesome new world.  Throw in a few twist and turns and you have yourself a tale that will hook readers of both middle grade and young adult.

For more information on Jonathon visit his website: http://www.thescop.com/