December 21, 2021
Grades 4-6 In this sequel to Spark and the League of Ursus (2020), Repino continues to challenge simplistic notions of good versus bad. The clock is ticking down toward the time when Loretta, the human child whose love brought Spark to life, will outgrow the teddy bear and so extinguish her consciousness. Spark finds herself facing not only a fresh onslaught of transdimensional monsters, led by leering mastermind Karacor, but the very Grand Sleuth, or high council, of supposedly heroic teddy-bear protectors she had long sought to join. Following Spark's horrified discovery that the council has naively agreed to give Loretta to Karacor in exchange for a promise to take his monsters back through their portal and never return (sure), Spark enlists both plush and plastic allies for an epic, climactic, Toy Story-style battle. Once again, the author displays a dab hand at crafting creepy creatures, live toys both heroic and comically timorous, and a cinematic plotline that will carry readers along to the projected duology's triumphant, if poignant, close.
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