Krazyland

July 18, 2022
After a child disappears during a birthday party, 13-year-old narrator Nathan Clark learns that his uncle’s arcade and play space is actually home to another dimension in Romasco-Moore’s (I Am the Ghost in Your House) middle grade debut, a speculative exploration of science and self. A “chubby” kid who wishes “everyone would leave me alone about it,” Nathan would rather be playing video game Voidjumper solo than withstanding his cousin’s bullying at Krazyland Kids Indoor Playplace. But when a child disappears from Krazyland, and Nathan is faced with a ball pit entrance to a real-life void, he and legacy employee Mercy Riverbottom collaborate to bring back the missing kid, solve the mystery behind the portal’s origin, and work out how to close it up for good. Told in Nathan’s amusingly formal first-person voice, short, suspenseful chapters keep the pace moving as skills learned from playing Voidjumper make Nathan uniquely suited to handling the existential chaos. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

August 1, 2022
Beneath the colorful surface of Krazyland Kids Indoor Playplace is a dangerous alternate universe. Nathan, who narrates in a snarky first-person voice, would much rather stay at home playing on his computer, but he gets roped into attending a birthday party for his younger cousin Jenny at Krazyland. At 13, he's too old for this kid stuff! In short order, Nathan has his face shoved into the birthday cake by his mean older cousin Jake, is chased by flying eyeballs, and loses his phone. On the upside, he meets a vulnerable girl named Mercy, and they become fast friends. When one of the guests goes missing, the party's abruptly over, and Krazyland is shut down for the day. All that's left are Nathan, his relatives, and Mercy, who fortunately knows much about the krazy history of Krazyland. Their labyrinthine journey through its chambers includes giant spiders, a twisted life-size Whac-A-Mole game, and a boat made of pizza. Since this all feels a lot like one of Nathan's computer games, why isn't he having a great time? Romasco-Moore plunges readers right into the action, folding bits of backstory and exposition in along the way. Each of her short, punchy chapters ends on a cliffhanger, keeping pacing strong and comic suspense high. The chief charm of her wacky episodic adventure is the transformation of recognizably benign fixtures of kid fun into menacing foes. Characters follow a White default. A brisk and lively comic thriller full of surprises. (Horror. 9-13)

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