by Karuna Riazi (Author)
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.
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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
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.