Monday, February 10, 2014

Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback / Michael L. Thal

This is the second half of a doubleshot review. To see BigAl's take on this same book, see his review from this morning.

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Middle Grade/ Fantasy/ Mystery

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Michael L. Thal is an accomplished freelancer, is the author of The Legend of Koolura and Goodbye Tchaikovsky. He has written and published over eighty articles for magazines and newspapers including Highlights for ChildrenThe Los Angeles Times, and San Diego Family Magazine.” 

Mr. Thal lives in Sherman Oaks, CA. He is also a reviewer here at BigAl’s Books and Pals, you can learn more about him at Goodreads or visit his website.

Description:

“Koolura has the ability to teleport, levitate, heal, and even fly. But at Camp Saddleback, Koolura wakes up drained and powerless. Who or what has stolen her psychic powers?

As Koolura searches for the truth about her power loss, she and the Chumash Girls have to deal with pranksters ruining their cabin and destroying their summer. Campers plan revenge but problems escalate as lives are threatened. Will Koolura and the Chumash Girls solve the mystery at Camp Saddleback?”

Appraisal:

Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback is a delightful story packed full of summer camp pranks and mystery. Koolura is a strong heroine with high morals and shows a balanced amount of empathy for damaged characters. I think this is a good picture to paint for this target age group.
The escapades that develop from the pranks are mostly goodhearted fun until things get carried too far. Koolura is left on her own to figure out who the culprit is and why they have carried things to such an extreme. The adventure is fast paced as the tension builds and the hijinks turn deadly.

This story is told through Koolura's eyes, we get to know her innermost thoughts and learn as she learns about her potential as well as life in general. The characters are diverse and well-defined, the plot also comes to a satisfying ending. I think the Koolura Series has a lot of potential for more entertaining stories.

FYI:

I think there is enough back story in this book that it could be enjoyed as a stand-alone.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant errors.

Rating: **** Four stars

2 comments:

Michael said...

For all the Koolura fans out there, book three of the Koolura Series,"Koolura and the Mayans" is being written.

?wazithinkin said...

Sounds intriguing, Mr. Thal. I look forward to it. Thanks for dropping in and leaving a comment. :)