Una is "Written In" to the land of Story, where children train as characters. She and friends Peter and Sam (a cat) investigate her mysterious arrival and unearth the administration's lies about missing Muses and a king no one remembers. Storybook themes and a game heroine may win Inkheart fans.

A 12-year-old girl finds herself to be an illegitimate visitor to the land of Story in this debut middle-grade fantasy. While in the basement of her school library, foster child Una Fairchild stumbles into a tale all about herself and a world where people practice to be characters in books--hero, villain or sidekick. When Una discovers that she has only been "Written In" to their universe for some mysterious reason, making her very existence precarious, a tumult of clandestine and protective activity ensues. Along the way she befriends a compassionate boy named Peter and an erratic girl named Snow. Meanwhile, Talekeepers spy, Muses are stifled and the Enemy lurks. Books and their supporters are in danger at every turn. In this allegory told by an omniscient narrator, the proceedings are often heavy-handed, and the limited character development can make it challenging to care about the fates of all involved. Yet readers who love fantasy may see an opportunity to snuggle up with a cup of cocoa and unravel the plot, which twists and turns in on itself, with happy surprises. While the novel doesn't reach the heights to which it clearly aspires--Harry Potter, Inkheart, A Wrinkle in Time--its high concept could have cinematic potential, with deeper character development and less contrivance. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Most young readers have felt the desire to be magically transported into a book, and in Burt's debut, that's what happens to 12-year-old Una Fairchild. She travels to the land of Story, where students at the Perrault School take classes to become a fairy-tale archetype: a brave hero, a wicked villain, a lady in despair. (Comparisons to Hogwarts, anyone?) Una finds herself plunked down into a practical examination, where Perrault student Peter is playing the part of Hero. The two soon discover she has been "written" into the tale, which is strictly forbidden ever since the Talekeepers seized rule from the enemy Muses. But change is afoot in Story, and deep, dark forces are plotting to rise again. This is a richly imagined world, and readers will enjoy the mind-bending fun of puzzling together small details. Just don't expect a neat ending; sorry, it's a cliff-hanger. If fans are impatient for the sequel, hand them Cornelia Funke's similarly themed Inkheart (2003) or Roderick Townley's The Great Good Thing (2001).

Gr 5-7 Having grown up in foster homes and feeling as though she never quite belonged, Una Fairchild is not too distraught when she is transported to the land of Story (by a book, of course), a place populated by characters from fairy tales, folklore, and fiction. With the help of Peter, who is studying to be a Hero, and Sam, a talking cat, Una discovers that she has been "Written In." Until she figures out who wrote her in, and why, she is in danger-and so are all of the Tales of Story. With its unique twist (her roommate, for example, is a snooty Snow White), Una's adventures should charm those who enjoy fairy-tale reboots, and the cliff-hanger ending could ensure demand for a sequel. Laurie Slagenwhite Walters, Peachtree Montessori International, Ann Arbor, MI