Peanut Butter and Pandemonium

by Anita Daher
Great Plains Publications, 2023
ISBN 9781773370996
$14.95, 179 pp, ages 12 – 16
greatplains.mb.ca

Book two of the Mythic Adventures of Samuel Templeton has Sam transported to Goat Loops, in the realm of Niff, a parallel universe to Earth. The adventure begins as he opens an ancient-looking book with mysterious Icelandic runes etched on its cover and finds himself magically meeting half-giants, a group of men called the Bothers, incredible plants, and most of all, magic everywhere! As Sam prepares to fight an evil sorcerer who has been prophesied to kill him, he encounters danger all around. However, with his friend, the half-giant Elska, they finally endure battle with the Dokkas, confront the evil Loft, and meet the gods of the great Governance. As Sam meets challenges at every turn, he learns to use his own magic, change his destiny, and work to save the worlds he finds himself in. This story of good and evil has many opportunities for Sam to make decisions that will hopefully lead to his eventual success. The ending is not yet determined, as the author sets up the situation for Book Three of this series.

Classroom Connections: The study of Icelandic runes as a primitive way of corresponding is integral to this book, and a fun activity might be to create a small runic system that corresponds to a mythology that students could create with an original story of their own. Just listing the numerous mystical creatures, plants, and events that occur in this book and making a judgement about their “believability” would help students discover the qualities that make fantasy stories so readable or “too ridiculous.” Many of the events require Sam to make decisions, and a discussion on what decisions Sam makes in this story would help solidify the qualities of good decision-making.

Review by Betty Schultze.