Starred Review ALA Booklist (Mon Jun 05 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Starred Review A lone Teifling is on a quest to find his lost sister in the Forgotten Realms at's the campaign that dungeon master Olivia has crafted with her sole Dungeons & Dragons party member and best friend, Jess. The imaginative pair have done everything together since elementary school and now endure the next major quest, eighth grade. However, Olivia wants to open up the party to other members with a new D&D club at school, while Jess would prefer the trusted continuity of the solo campaign. Now Jess must face the monsters of sharing Olivia with a new party member, potentially losing her best friend and DM to a student council race, and learning to trust others as she grows. Ostertag shines again on this team up with Bouma, brightly displaying the trials of middle school in warm reds and purples and dungeon crawls in fantastical shades of green. The story creatively integrates classic D&D character race-class cards with the introduction of new characters in the story and foes in the campaign, and it bubbles with Bouma's indicative style of squishy yet thoughtfully diverse characters. Middle-grade readers intrigued by the cult classic RPG and fans fond of popular campaigns like Adventure Zone and Critical Role will enjoy the message of this series opener: "Monsters are easier to fight when you've got people by your side."

Kirkus Reviews (Mon Jun 05 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Role-playing and real life are inextricably intertwined in this Dungeons & Dragons–themed story of middle-grade woes.Up-and-coming eighth graders Jess, who has light brown skin, and Olivia, who presents as Black and Latine, have been inseparable since third grade. Though Jess may not be socially adept ("I'm not good at friends, but I'm good at stories"), she has a firm friend in Olivia, and the two bond over role-playing games, Olivia acting as Dungeon Master while Jess engages in quests as the hero Sir Corius. Then Olivia suggests starting a Dungeons & Dragons club at school, an idea that change-averse Jess becomes determined to thwart. The duo becomes a trio when another member joins the club, and Jess, feeling frustrated and vulnerable as things change even more, ends up hurting Olivia. Now Jess will have to dig deep to become a hero in real life. The back and forth between reality and the game's quest is interspliced expertly, never confusing readers with the switches. Ostertag deftly shows how elements of the game bleed into Jess' real life, like seeing core stats for kids at school floating about their heads. As the real and the fantastical blend into one another, readers will root for Jess even as her poor choices are hard to disregard. Bouma's engaging art will surely lure in fans of realistic comics.Scoring high on charisma, this tale of personal growth is bound to win many a curious young fan over to D&D's allure. (Graphic novel. 9-12)

School Library Journal (Mon Jun 05 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Gr 4 Up— Jess Descheene and Olivia Aguilar have been best friends for years, but as eighth grade begins, their friendship is changing. Olivia runs their two-person Dungeons &; Dragons game, but she wants to invite more players. Jess prefers stories to friends, but she gradually opens up to the idea of letting more kids play with them. The action happens between the real world and the imaginary one, but sometimes the worlds overlap. Jess sees school through a D&;D lens, looking at other students and imagining their character sheets, using criteria like "popularity class" and "bully potential." In one of the most striking images of the story, Jess sees some other girls in the school bathroom, and in the mirror they are reflected as monsters. Bouma's artwork is very appealing, with colors ranging from cool earth tones to bolder and brighter shades, depending on the location and emotion of each scene. While this is an ultimately uplifting story, these students deal with absent parents, school bullies, and learning to be brave enough to stand up for their friends. Jess begins this book thinking that going to middle school is harder than slaying monsters, but she evolves over time and learns that both her game and her heart are big enough to make room for new people. VERDICT For readers who are fans of or are curious about role-playing games, or those seeking heartwarming stories about friendship and imagination.— Andrea Lipinski