Ransom Riggs hits it out of the park with Sunderworld, Vol 1 : The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry. Leopold is a teenager who struggles with the death of his mother and the disappointment of his father. He starts seeing weird and wonderous things that no one else can see and starts to wonder if he is having a mental breakdown. Until he accidentally falls into the world of Sunderland, a world he only knows from some VHS tapes his mom left behind.
This book is adventurous, comedic, and magical. Leopold is the awkward lonely nerdy teen who find himself on the adventure of a lifetime and we are along for the ride. The story is wholesome and refreshing. It is a coming of age story with a fantasy twist. I anxiously await Vol II to follow Leopold's Sunderworld journey some more.
Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Dutton Books for Young Readers for the advanced copy. The opinions are my own.