REVIEW: The Selkie of San Francisco by Todd Calgi Gallicano

[I received a copy of the finished book from the author and the publisher, Delacorte Books for Young Readers, for review purposes. All opinions are my own.]

Summary


It’s been while since Sam’s first adventure with the Department of Mythical Wildlife, and he’s itching for another case. His bodyguard/Guardian Tashi is by his side and his decoy, Nuks, is ready for action. The call comes in from Dr. Vance Vantana that a mythical creature – a selkie – appeared at Fisherman’s Wharf and then again at a fashion show with up and coming model, Pearl Eklund.

Everyone knows Pearl’s story. She was found after a boat accident that killed her parents. Her rescuer became her adoptive father, and she couldn’t be more well known.

Sam, Tashi, and Dr. Vantana need to get close to Pearl in the hopes that the selkie will try to find her again. But the selkie doesn’t want to hurt Pearl. He seems to think she is someone crucial to the continued existence of humanity and relative peace between the selkies and the merpeople.

Sam has his new case! But maybe he should be more careful what he wishes for.

Review


I enjoyed Sam’s first story when I read it, but my memory for it was pretty fuzzy when I started this one. Once the action kicked in with the selkie, though, I was in the swing of things and didn’t put the book down until I was done. This sequel was so good!

I love Sam. He’s bright and resourceful. He has great insights about people and situations. The rest of the team is great, but Sam is my favorite. There are tons of mythical creatures in this one – from lots of different cultures. Mythology and Rick Riordan fans should definitely try this series.

One unusual feature to this for me is the ever-changing point of view characters. It’s not often that adults get to be POV characters in middle grade novels. But it works here as the adults are the only ones with some pieces of the puzzle in the book.

The case takes the team all over the world, The book is long, but it’s not filler. Each step gave them pieces of either the selkie story or the Sam story at the center of the book – finding his father.

There are some emotional moments in this one. I’m grateful for the epilogue which redeems some of it and gives us a title for book 3 with hints for where the story is headed.

Thanks again to the author, Todd Calgi Gallicano, for arranging for a review copy for me!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Guardians of the Gryphon’s Claw by Todd Calgi Gallicano

Summary


After two weeks of dreaming about the desert, Sam London is over it! It’s the same thing over and over. Each time he gets a little farther into it, but he always wakes up before he can figure out what’s going on. Until now. This last time he had the dream, he found himself face to face with a gryphon – a mythological creature that’s a cross between an eagle and a lion.

If that wasn’t weird enough, then Sam sees the same desert location on the news that he has been seeing in his dream! He knows it’s crazy for a 12-year-old to run off across the state by himself, but he HAS to know if the gryphon is really out in Death Valley like he saw in his dream.

Sam’s dream encounter is only the beginning of his journey with mythical creatures. His whole world is in danger as forces converge to destroy the curse that hides mythical creatures from humans. And Sam is smack dab in the middle of everything.

Review


This was a fun adventure story chock full of mythical creatures – gryphons, harpies, yeti, etc. Plenty I hadn’t heard of before. This reminded me of The Menagerie (Tui T. Sutherland) or the Percy Jackson series  (Rick Riordan), or the Imaginary Veterinary series (Suzanne Selfors). If you know a reader who enjoyed those books, have them check out this series!

The author does a great job of planting clues  and questions and then moving the reader along in the story, still wondering about those things. Some were addressed by the end of the book. Others were not. I was prepared for this to be a series for which I would read book one and then just tell folks about the rest. I was content with just know the beginning of this story. But the open questions guarantee that I will have to keep up with this series until everything is spelled out!

I loved the main character, Sam. While he feels like he is ordinary and not at all special, his care for others and determination make you root for him from start to finish. You know he is something special.

Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte for providing an electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥