Disney After Dark

October 10, 2005
This far-fetched, high-concept story will find an audience despite its fuzzy premise and the creaky workings of its plot. Finn Whitman, 13, is one of five "hologram hosts," middle-school students whose likenesses have been digitally captured so they can appear constantly, guiding visitors around Disney's Magic Kingdom. Finn awakens one night, inside the park, as his hologram self. He's met by Wayne, one of the original "Imagineers," who tells Finn that all five hosts are needed to solve a riddle left by Walt to prevent the villainous "Overtakers" from wreaking havoc inside the gates and throughout the world. Their mission to solve the puzzle, which involves 3-D glasses and trips inside rides such as It's a Small World and Splash Mountain is enough fun that most readers will set aside some nagging questions (e.g., how did Walt, who died five years before the park opened, leave clues inside structures that hadn't been built yet, and why are a bunch of seventh-graders the only ones who can save the place?). The threat rings hollow anyway. Only one "Overtaker" materializes—Maleficent, the witch from Disney's Sleeping Beauty
. Finn is the sole fleshed-out character (the two girl hosts are given little to do and seem indistinguishable), and some passages read like an ad (as when Wayne catologues the Disney empire: "the Disney parks, the cruise line, the Broadway shows, the Web sites, Disney on Ice"). Still, with Finn and friends traversing tunnels and battling the creepy Audio-Animatronic characters, readers will likely line up for this ride. Ages 10-up.

January 1, 2006
Gr 5-8 -Using cutting-edge technology, five Florida teens have been transformed into Holographic Hosts at Disney World. Their images appear throughout the Magic Kingdom, giving visitors information about the various attractions. It all seems to be going well, until the participants begin having disturbing dreams that start affecting their everyday lives. They sneak in after the park has closed, and Wayne, a retired -Imagineer, - directs them in their fight against the Dark Side, embodied by Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. Audio-animatronic pirates from "The Pirates of the Caribbean" travel through the Magic Kingdom in the little cars from the Buzz Lightyear ride. The dolls from -It's a Small World - clamber into the boats and start biting the occupants. Cinderella's Castle is filled with an eye-popping array of staircases, à la Escher. There's a certain coolness factor for the notion that people could be both human and hologram at the same time, and the illicit thrill of seeing all the things you don't normally get to see (both real and imaginary) makes this a must-read for serious Disney fans. However, readers never really get to know any of the characters well, except for Finn, the narrator, and the mystery is so convoluted that it's hard to follow, and even harder to care about. Additional." -Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 10, 2005
For anyone who has imagined what goes on in Walt Disney World after the gates close to the public, Pearson's (Peter and the Starcatchers
) tale and Littman's authentic-sounding narration, in middle-schooler Finn Whitman's voice, offer a suspenseful all-access pass to the Magic Kingdom behind the scenes—filled with action, technology and a tricky (and implausible) riddle. Finn lands a cooler-than-cool opportunity after he becomes a model for a new breed of "holographic hosts" (Disney Host Interactive/Daylight Hologram Imaging) at Disney World. But the experience gets weirder than weird when Finn and the other four DHIs find themselves transported to the park via their nighttime dreams and must save the Magic Kingdom from Disney witches and villains called "Overtakers" by solving a puzzle said to be left behind by Walt himself. Littman reads at a smooth pace, speeding up along with the story's tension. He nails realistic kid-like reactions and dialogue even though listeners might find much of the plot hard to believe (and some of the plugs for Disney a bit over the top). Ages 10-up.

January 1, 2006
Five teens discover they can transport to Disney World at night and move through parts of the park nobody else sees. When the evil puppets come alive and plot to destroy the Magic Kingdom, Finn and his new friends are given the task of stopping them. Pearson's idea has wonderful potential; unfortunately, the plot and the characters are disappointingly flat.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)