THE GROUNDWORLD HEROES: A Chapter Book Review by Guest Blogger, Janelle Ekpo

REVIEW

The Groundworld Heroes, written and illustrated by 14-year-old Adrian So, is an incredibly charming book ideal for lovers of Redwall and other animal adventure stories. (Monarch, 2024)

A mole named Benjamin is a Junior Digger with the desire to prove himself. With the threat of humans and the kidnapping of his friend named Conner, he has just the opportunity. The question is, is he ready to face many challenges? The other main character is Mr. Hare, the president of Soilland who has the heavy responsibility of evacuating his people from the danger of the humans. However, he and his people accidentally find themselves in Puddleland, ruled by a pleasant king and a rather unpleasant queen. The President, king, queen, and Benjamin must all work together – along with the help of a special heirloom – to stop the threatening humans from hurting Soiland and Benjamin’s friend.

Broken off pieces of the rat royals’ vehicle.

ATTENTION TO DETAILS

Besides the adventurous plot, the attention to detail in this book made it seem realistic and put the story on par with other great animal stories that have been treasured through the ages. The author refers to “mole paces” as a measurement, for example, and many other instances that would normally be taken for granted are tweaked to fit in an animal world, and add sparkle to he story. Another example is the beginning of chapter fourteen, where the rain is described as going tap tap tap from a human’s perspective, and Whumph, whumph, whumph from a rat’s perspective. These are tiny details that the reader would never think of, but that add so much flavor to the story.

Copper Cop, fake police officer and Groundworld intruder. 

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

The plot and detail in Groundworld Heroes is held together by good character development. The main characters, Benjamin and President Hare, both learn how to be better leaders. In the beginning of the story Benjamin is doubting his ability as a helper in his community, but by the end he is responsible for the successful beating back of the enemies, saving Puddleland, and rescuing his friend, Conner. President Hare learns how to be a better leader and keep his people’s best interest in mind, even when he is in subjection to the king and Queen of Puddleland.

RECOMMENDATION

In conclusion, The Groundworld Heroes is a story for lovers of Redwall. The characterdevelopment is well done and the detailed description makes the world immersive. This book is wonderful for ages eight and up, and is enjoyable for girls and boys alike.

GIVEAWAY, PREORDER, OR ARC– OR ALL THREE!

Adrian’s book comes out in August 6 and there are three ways you can get his book.

ONE: Enter the giveaway by leave a comment by June 19. If you sign up to follow my blog or share this on social media, I’ll enter your name for each thing you do. Please let me know what you do. U.S. and Canada addresses only. Adrian will provide the book after it releases.

TWO: Preorder it from your favorite indie bookstore or Amazon or Barnes & Noble. (Pre-orders help authors! Check out this article).

THREE: Send Adrian an email and tell him you want to read the digital Advanced Review Copy. In return, he’ll ask you to leave a short review on Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon (Note: you can’t post your review on Amazon until after the book publishes).

Whatever you decide to do, please add The Groundworld Heroes to your Goodreads shelf.

By the way, The Groundworld Heroes was a finalist in the prestigious Stone Soup competition!

About the Reviewer

Janelle is a rising junior from South Carolina who is passionate about Christian fantasy, realistic fiction, and writing. She often helps students with their papers and write book reviews to encourage people to read quality books. She is working on growing my personal library!

On Monday, head over to Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for other middle-grade book reviews.