The Bravest Warrior in Nefaria

July 24, 2023
In the Kingdom of Nefaria, evil schemes perpetrated by villainous foes are commonplace. But since ploys such as the Great Cheese Fraud, the formation of the Anti-beanbag Society, and a plot to take over the kingdom using highly trained spider monkeys turned out mostly harmless, residents rarely concern themselves about them. Even 11-year-old Bobert Bougainvillea, who has olive skin, is only worried that he seems invisible to his classmates. To make friends, Bobert accepts a peer’s dare to use a purportedly cursed gumball machine after dark. In doing so, he springs a trap laid long ago by a sinister wizard named Matt, whose plans to conquer the kingdom involve slowly gathering an army of children through his gumball ruse. Matt ensures that any memory of the child’s existence is erased, so as to elude the kingdom’s evil-scheme sniffer-outers, but Bobert’s new friends somehow remember him just enough to go looking for him, thus drawing them all into a struggle to save him and the kingdom. This goofy middle grade debut from Alsaid (Actually Super) possesses a simmering humor drawn from the premise and setting’s thoroughly absurd trappings, and its good-intentioned protagonists lend it an upbeat tone. Ages 8–12.

August 1, 2023
Bobert is used to being ignored by pretty much all who live in the strange kingdom of Nefaria, until an unexpected adventure thrusts him into the spotlight. In fact, making friends feels impossible to mostly invisible 11-year-old Bobert Bougainvillea. So when he's presented with the chance to protect popular classmate Candelabra and her friends from a dangerous dare by taking on the challenge himself, he jumps at the opportunity. As a consequence of using the cursed gumball machine that is rumored to capture anyone who uses it after dark, Bobert finds himself under the control of Matt, an evil but lazy wizard who is plotting to raise a child army to take control of Nefaria. Inventive oddities like singing mountain spiders and the Anti-Beanbag Society's exploits add charm that keeps the storyline fresh, humorous, and fun as it engages with everyday tween dilemmas. Many readers will be able to relate to the relationship issues explored, both between kids and adults and within peer groups. On his journey to find acceptance and belonging, Bobert comes to understand that others are lonely too, and that "it could break the human spirit." Gumball machines and beanbags notwithstanding, the Kingdom of Nefaria, which is ruled by a king and a clueless Council of Elders, has a rustic, preindustrial feeling. The racially ambiguous characters are varied in appearance, and one child has two moms. Fanciful, humorous, and original. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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September 1, 2023
Grades 4-6 This droll tale features a narcissistic wizard and a lad with a strong tendency to fade into the background. In the land of Nefaria, where evil schemes are practically a daily occurrence, self-dubbed Great Wizard Matt has concocted a particularly fiendish one: to assemble an army of bespelled young children and stage a coup, because no grownups will be willing to fight them. Thanks to a spell that makes everyone forget them, the children aren't missed, and that particularly applies to 11-year-old Bobert Bougainvillea, who, even before being sucked into the wizard's magical gumball dispenser alongside 199 other kids, had problems being noticed. Can Bobert rise from anonymity to find a way to free the children? Eventually he does, but as the wizard spitefully turned him into a small sloth, performing the complicated and silly counterspell goes . . . very . . . slowly, keying a climax that likewise stretches out to excruciating length. The pacing ploy is a clever twist, but even patient readers may be tempted to skip ahead to the happy ending.

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