The Kingdom of Kevin Malone

To escape the abuse of his now-dead father, Kevin Malone has created his own magical world, the Fayre Farre, and he is Prince Kavian. Amy, a former classmate, arrives in the final days before the epic battle between Prince Kavian and his nemesis. “A sure winner which will be enjoyed by readers who may be overwhelmed by high fantasy.”--Children’s Book Review ServiceFrom School Library JournalGrade 6-9-Chasing Kevin, a bully from her old neighborhood, teenaged Amy skates under an archway in Central Park and finds herself in the Fayre Farre, a fantasy land that the boy has created to escape his ugly "real" life. There, he is no longer Rotten Kevin, but Kavian Prince, the Promised Champion, destined by prophecy to free his people from the evil sorceror Anglower. Charnas plays the Fayre Farre as both real and metaphorical. Anglower, when he appears for the Final Battle, is the phantom of Kevin's abusive father; after a brisk fight, he is ultimately defeated in a tangle of thorny roses. Several subplots, including Amy's struggle to cope with a favorite relative's sudden death, and frequent shifts of mood or scene, give the story a crowded feel, but the author's sly digs at the heroic fantasy genre are on the mark, and Kevin makes an unusual hero. He's whiny, sullen, and self-centered, but also a tragic figure with a nascent sense of responsibility-he elects to stay in his newly liberated kingdom, and is last seen worrying about the ethnic strife developing between the elves and the semihuman Branglemen. Readers can sift through the whimsy for serious themes, or not, as they choose.John Peters, New York Public LibraryCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsAmy, 14, is roller-skating in Central Park when Kevin, a tough Irish kid from her old neighborhood, suddenly runs by and pins onto her jersey a trinket he took from her long ago. Running after him, she passes through an arch and into the kingdom that Kevin has created to escape his father's brutality. There, Amy is drawn into Kevin's struggle with his archenemy Anglower, returning to the real world to bring Kevin a magic sword. In the end, Kevin defeats Anglower, who turns out to be a reincarnation of his brutal, drunken father. Amy returns home, but Kevin stays in his kingdom. Charnas blends tough, gritty young New Yorkers who have real problems--Kevin's dad, Amy's recent loss of a beloved cousin--with the standard elements of troll-and-mole fantasy. The mix is uneven, but it does make an engrossing story. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.