Name: Tamora Carter
ISBN: 9781735266206

Jim C. Hines

One night after roller derby practice, twelve-year-old Tamora Carter discovers a pair of goblins digging through the dumpster behind the rink. The scruffy pair passed through a magical portal into our world, and they're not alone. Do these creatures know the truth about what happened to Tamora's best friend Andre? She won't rest until she finds out. But there are things far more dangerous than goblins...

Goblin Queen

Tamora Carter

Briar's Reviews

If you're seeking a fun, fantasy book aimed at middle graders then this book is absolutely perfect!

Tamora Carter: Goblin Queen is an eccentric, delightful and over the top book that brought my worlds of joy! Our lead, Tamora Carter, is a roller derbying girl with lots of sass. Her friend goes missing and she's concerned, like any normal girl would be. Suddenly, goblins and other magical creatures have found their way into her city and things start to get weird. Tamora will work together with her magical creature friends to learn the value of friendship, loyalty and leadership.

There's so many good things about this book! It's fast paced, full of fantasy nods to lore and myths, Tamora's brother is on the Autism Spectrum (he's non-verbal), and is one incredibly awesome character (never once is his abilities put into question, which is the way it should be), it has a Korean-American lead and it's action packed. The representation in this book is on point and written in a very friendly manner. The entire book screams fantastic because it's exactly what I want in a middle grade novel.

The descriptions of the universe and people also make the entire book feel very real. You could almost start squinting at the sewers to see if any magical creatures will pop up.

Adults and children alike will love this book. There is some fighting and swearing, but nothing most kids haven't heard before. This book felt like the slightly rebellious middle grade book I yearned for as a kid. Seriously, I love it! There needs to be more books like this floating around - fun, action-packed, kid and adult friendly, and full of honest but not preachy representation. Jim C. Hines has crafted a middle grade masterpiece. So, what are you doing? Go read it! 

Five out of five stars.

Tamora Carter Goblin Queen

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