Worlds explode by Shane Hegarty

(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. The second book in the quirky, action-packed Darkmouth series, finds Finn still 11 months away from becoming a fully-fledged Legend Hunter upon his 13th Birthday. A prologue outlines the previous events for those who haven't read the first book in the series. When Hugo does not return from the land of behemoths, it falls on poor Finn to defend Darkmouth. Yet his quest to find his father on the 'Infested Side' means that he must battle monsters and discover more long lost family members than he bargained on.
The history of previous skirmishes on the Infested Side, is documented in a sub-text called 'The Chronicles of the Sky's Collapse'. It runs parallel to Finn's search for the map and his father. The journey through another realm filled with monstrous 'Legends' takes a mammoth 400 pages and might put tweens off - hopefully long enough so that the diehard fans of Darkmouth bk. 1 can get their hands on it in the school library!
Not wishing to dampen desires to experience it for ourselves, the language and the subject matter are still to easily managed in the middle school although the sequel is more demanding in many ways.
Darkmouth bk 3 : Chaos Descends will be much awaited. Meanwhile, devotees can view the trailer and even immerse themselves in all things Darkmouth by watching a dozen or more explainer animations on the Darkmouth youtube channel. There is a prequel to the series here.
Deborah Robins