Kate's brother Matty disappeared five years ago. Now fourteen-year-old Kate has been given a bauble by her elderly neighbor, who claims that it will take her to the magical land of Abadazad (the subject of Matty's favorite series of books, very similar to Oz) where Matty is being held prisoner.I just didn't like this at all. The story is meant to echo Oz, which is fine, but it ends up feeling extremely derivative and not particularly original. Kate is an extremely annoying narrator. And the plot...

Five years ago, little Matt Jameson got on a ride in a street fair and disappeared without a trace. His older sister Kate Jameson and mother Frances are frequently at odds with each other ever since.[return][return]Kate is now 14, your average rebellious teenager with a taste for heavy metal and being difficult with her deeply-hurting mother.[return][return]One day, their neighbour Mrs Vaughn cornered Kate and told her she knew where Matt is. He has been taken into Abadazad, a fantasy land known...

This was one of my favorite books as a kid- it describes an incredible fantasy world with enchanting artwork. I loved just having these books out in my room where I could see them and be reminded of the magic that this book made me feel immersed in. But reading it again as an adult gave me different feelings. The artwork is still beautiful and the plot is still nice, but the narrator slips sarcasm into every single sentence she writes. The wit that is supposed to make Kate seem like a really sma...

I forgot how much I enjoyed children's books. This one is a little dark and more young teen/middle school than other books in the genre. It is disguised as a kids graphic novel but there are some themes that are dark and maybe not noticed by kids. The art is extraordinary.

This was Crossgen Comics attempt at entering the graphic novel field, but I think it all got mixed up with Disney when they bought the company during their bankruptcy. As a fan of Crossgen I'm always on the look out of titles I don't own yet and was happy to pick this up at a thrift store. The story is  mix of Peter Pan's Neverland and Alice's Wonderland with a lot of other things thrown into the mix. I enjoyed it a lot and couldn't wait to read the second one. Unfortunately I have not found the...

I read this book and then immediately read the second in the series back to back, so I am doing a sort of joint review.The books came to my attention when Elder Brother plopped them down in front of me."Remember him?" he asked.I looked down and saw the cover of The Dream Thief, which features a rather snarky, evil looking purple top hatted, goatee-ed, red-eyed, red beak nosed, yellow teethed, six armed, Fagin type nasty male type figure."Ummmm....no...." (It was only the truth. I know no one wh...

I remember nothing about these except that I liked them!

I love this book! I love the formatting, the story, the characters, just everything! This book is full of magic and it'sa fast read. To me it's a combination of The Wizard Of Oz and Alice In Wonderland but yet, it's still it's own story. I can't wait to read the other books in and continue on this adventure with Kate.

Colorful illustrations and handwritten fonts used in this kids' book for about an age of 8 to 10. It blatantly mixes elements of a CS Lewis' world beyond and Oz-like characters but misses the beat of a truly real magical realm. The depressive undertones are a bit much, dealing with a brother who has been missing for five years (ostensibly snatched), a father who has abandoned his family, and a depressed, neurotic mother who drinks regularly and has trouble holding down a regular job. Not escapis...

It was really...really...weird. It's very similar to the Wizard of Oz (and maybe that was why I was drawn to it, because I had just watched it). Parts of it was in the graphic novel style, and other parts were just written like a normal book. Kate, who the book is written from is really annoying. She's so pessimistic about everything. But, with that said I liked everything else. It was a fun thing to read during the boring summer hours. :)

This series was an attempt to convert a comics series from a failed publisher into a children's book series under Disney. For whatever reason, sales were apparently not good enough, and the U.S. publication stopped after only two volumes, with a third one coming out in England.I will say that after reading the first two, I immediately ordered a copy of the third one from a store over there, because the tale is remarkably weird, but quite good. Not great, but quite good.The basic premise has sinc...

This full-color-on-every-page book pulls off the mix of book and graphic novel better than any other I've seen so far. The art in the graphic sections is excellent, and the book pages alternate between the diary of narrator Kate and yellowing pages from the Abadazad storybooks that Kate and her little brother Matt love.Abadazad is a fictional fictional world - in other words, in the world Kate and Matt live in, the Abadazad books, movies, collectibles, and fan conventions outshine Harry Potter a...

Abadazad is unique and beautiful in that it experiments with a combination of prose and comic strip to tell its amazing story. The color scheme has an almost magical feeling in itself, with brillant dark undercurrents that provide some severity to the whole story. You find yourself transported to this whole new world, just as Kate finds herself transported to the magical land of Abadazad. I would recommend this not just for young readers, but to everyone who enjoys the fantastical.

I read this one after Kelsey S. and I spent a fair amount of time searching for a little gal who could only remember a character that had blue skin, and "it starts with an A." Part graphic novel, the story alludes to fantasy authors and illustrators of the past such as Baum, Barrie, and Ransome, as well as the constant themes of lost children, magical journeys, innocence and evil, etc. The blue-skinned witch in this story however, appears to be based on an Indian goddess which makes for an inter...

DeMatteis is one of my favorite comic book writers, a man able to bring both humour and drama to a comic without either one overshadowing each other. He writes a lot of psychological stories--his Harry Osborn Green Goblin stories were amazing, including Harry's death--and of late he's also added a tinge of his own, well, different take on religion in an underrated run on the Spectre.Here we have a set of books that's part teen fiction, part comic book, part homage to the writers of children's fi...

The story and illustrations were great which led me to searching for the other Abadazad series just to find out the story never got to finish. This book's one of those perfect "fun while it lasted" reads

First, I loved the artwork and the concept. This book definitely pushes some boundaries (real or imagined) in genre. Although the publisher lists the book as ages 9 and up, I suspect that the format might be a little confusing to some of the younger readers--at least--at first (though a little bit of a brief book talk might solve that). The book is a journal-no-diary-no-memoir/graphic novel/book-within-a-book and more. I was intrigued enough to want to read Book 2, just to see where this all goe...

My only, yet exigent and looming criticism, is the fact that's its too damn short! Upon finishing this graphic-novel type Wizard of Oz inspired-thingumajig I promptly read at the back that this was made by the Disney corporation. It made sense.What could've been one entire novel has been chopped up into a handful of stories, into a sort of Disney cash cow. On it's story basis, its a thoroughly enjoyable story and the illustrations are simply, at best, beautiful. Yet, this factor can't change my

The first of several not quite graphic novels. The story alternates between Kate Jameson’s text filled enchanted dairy and full page illustrated panels, and are interspersed with the yellowed pages of a favored Little Martha storybook. Kate explains that five years earlier, her younger brother Matty is kidnapped. She’s never gotten over the loss or overcome her feelings of guilt. All of these emotions are pushed aside after Kate receives a blue sphere that transports her to the magical realm of

Oh my... I first read this book in 2007 when I was only 8 years old! I had both books and read them back to back in one night.Me and my brother instantly fell in love with the world of Abadazad! I have so many feelings and memories of this series that I just don't know how to put it in word, doesn't happen to me too often.I just, I guess I just love this series. I cried when I found out the author wasn't continuing it! :'(Once again, pretty crappy review. I just can't explain how much this means...