Ozzie Sparks does what any kid would do when faced with a clumsy blue tiger with wings: he follows it through the magical door in his basement. Leaving behind his loving aunt and his mostly absent parents, Ozzie arrives in Zoone, the nexus of the multiverse. His excitement over the thousands of doors to bizarre worlds is tempered only by the fact that his own door back to Earth just exploded behind him. Aided by a colorful cast of friends, Ozzie must convince the wizards of Zoone to repair the door so he can return to his aunt, a tall order given their disfavor for his dying world and their preoccupation with a possibly escaped magical menace. Faced with a bigger adventure than he bargained for, Ozzie's quest will teach him what it means to belong and to be a friend. Heartwarming and enchanting, Födi's vocabulary-stretching portal fantasy is a great fit for readers who want something sweet and fun, though readers looking for a unique and rigorous magic system may be disappointed.

This portal fantasy begins with a door to nowhere.One uneventful day, a pipe bursts in Apartment 2B, where Oswald "Ozzie" Sparks lives with practical, orderly Aunt Temperance while his high-powered parents travel the world. Imaginative, lonely Ozzie sets off in search of creepy Mr. Crudge, the building's caretaker, and stumbles upon a mysterious door. This door has "an energy about it," and for some reason Aunt Temperance seems to have a key to it. A few days later, Ozzie arrives home to find a blue, curly-eared, winged, tigerlike creature called a skyger waiting for him. Telling Ozzie his name is Tug, he invites the boy to Zoone, the heart of the multiverse, where the Convention of Wizardry is about to commence and the secret of this world between worlds awaits. Using Aunt Temperance's key, Ozzie enters, but the door explodes, leaving Ozzie with no way home. Though he'll have guidance from Lady Zoone, the steward, Ozzie will need to discover the secret on his own. He'll also find out he's much braver than he thinks over the course of this rather contemplative adventure. Like many a magical world before it, Zoone is full of colorful characters. Even Aunt Temperance wasn't always so "mundane," as Ozzie learns. She appears to suffer from depression, which Ozzie understands as sickness. Tug has a disability among those of his kind: His wings don't work. Capt. Cho, head of Zoone security, has brown skin; assume whiteness for other humans.A promising start for a new series. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Gr 4-6 The door looks old and dull, but somehow magical to Ozzie. How could a magical door exist in the basement of the building where his prim aunt lives in apartment 2B? When the very tall lady with a hat full of birdsreal birdsand a blue winged tiger named Tug appear on his couch, Ozzie can't help but believe in the magical door that takes him with a bang to the Land of Zoone. Unfortunately, when he arrives in the station that serves as the nexus of access to all magical lands, the door to his earthly world is blasted apart. Ozzie soon finds himself with a porter's job (he learns to not ask what is in the luggage), trying to figure out who he can trust, including a princess and an ornery wizard. Trouble is brewing for Zoone in the shape of the escaped evil wizard Crogus, and Ozzie might just hold the magical key to save it all. The world-building is detailed and rich; readers will want to travel the tracks to visit different worlds and stroll the magical market. The plot is fairly predictable, but there is enough suspense and mystery to keep most readers hooked. VERDICT A solid fantasy for large middle grade collections. Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA