LIONBOY: THE TRUTH
by Zizou Corder
Dial Press
ISBN: 0803729855
Ages: 8-12
240 pages

• Read an Excerpt

The second volume in the Lionboy series ended with Charlie Ashanti, the Catspeaker, finally reunited with his parents. The evil lion trainer Maccomo has gotten his comeuppance, and only troublemaking Rafi Sadler left to worry about. Everything is great, right?

Not for long, as Charlie is soon kidnapped, and he and his parents become involved in a high-speed Atlantic Ocean pursuit. Charlie's beloved lions get in on the act, and Charlie finally has his chance to confront the powerfully evil Corporacy --- but not before he must make some tough choices.

There are plenty of surprises along the way, including more discoveries about Charlie's family, some of them not entirely welcome. Charlie also learns more about his past, and even has an emotional --- and surprising --- reunion with the leopard responsible for his ability to speak the language of cats.

Like the first two volumes in the Lionboy series, LIONBOY: THE TRUTH unfolds at a breakneck pace, switching among characters, scenes, and even continents at a furious speed, keeping readers eager to discover what new adventures await Charlie and his friends. And he has a lot of friends, too: there's practically a cast of thousands, what with all the characters from the first two books reappearing, along with some new ones, such as the multilingual chameleon Ninu. It's no wonder that the book ends with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek update on every character's future plans, stretching out over several pages.

LIONBOY: THE TRUTH brings the Lionboy trilogy to a satisfying conclusion. Louisa Young and Isabel Adomakoh Young (aka Zizou Corder) have developed a thrilling fantasy world and a compelling hero in this old-fashioned adventure series with a high-tech spin. Here's hoping we haven't heard the last from this talented mother-daughter writing team!

   --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

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