Review: The Kingdom Keepers

Five young teens tapped as models for theme park “guides” find themselves pitted against Disney villains and witches who threaten both the future of Walt Disney World and the stability of the world outside it’s walls. Using a cutting edge technology called DHI, which stands for both Disney Host Interactive and Daylight Hologram Imaging, Orlando teen Finn Whitman and four other kids are transformed into hologram projections that guide guests through the park. However, the new technology turns out to have unexpected effects that are both thrilling and scary. Soon, Finn finds himself transported into his DHI form at night. Is it real, or a dream?

There were several things I like about this book. I’ve never been to Disney World, so I liked very much how he described all of the areas and characters there. It really helped me to become part of the book, like I was the one there, going to all those places and doing all those things with the characters. I think that’s what makes a good book, to be able to close your eyes and just become a part of it… to me that is so cool! I also liked the sci-fi part of the book. I mean, wouldn’t it be cool to be turned into a hologram? I liked how they took you through and told how they do it, how you wear the special clothes with all these tiny mirrors, how they film you next to a screen, it made me think of all the cool movies I’ve seen, and now I know how they did that. The last thing I liked were the characters in the book, kids all my age! That was cool, although I would have done things different if I was there, I still liked the fact that kids are the heroes of the story.

What I will remember about this book is how the kids worked together to find the answer to what is going on in the part at night, and how they all became friends. I loved the sci-fi part a lot! How they made the holograms work and how it couldn’t do some things, and even though I don’t like young adult books too much, I really liked this one. It reminds me a lot of the movies Tron and Bridge to Terabithia. Also, it’s like a book I love called “Magic Kingdom: Sold!” This book takes people from our world and brings them into another world. It’s been done a lot, I know, but here it’s really good. The way the book is written really helps to make you feel like you are right there.

I would recommend this book to anyone, but I think this is a great book for parents to read with kids. It is for “young adults”, yes, but with the sci-fi stuff, I think people who read that will like this one as well. And parents should share this with their kids. In the book, one of the older characters asks Finn, “What did you think when you first saw all this?” and Finn says, “I thought it was magic.” Almost everyone has been to a Disney park, so maybe this is a way for parents to share how they felt when they were kids and went there for the first time, and tell how it was “magic” to them.

I really loved this book, and that’s not usual for me to like young adult stuff. I am twelve years old, yeah, but I like regular stuff like what my Dad reads or watches. I love mysteries and puzzles a lot, and I like books that make you think, and this book did that for me. I think you’ll like it too.

This book is from Disney Editions Books, and you can get it for $8.99.

One last thing I found out that is very cool is about the author, Ridley Pearson. He also wrote “Peter and the Shadow Thieves” which is also a very good book to read.

Darcy Low

The Kingdon Keepers by Ridley Pearson
Published by: Disney Editions (mass market edition, April 24, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1423105451
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy