5/28/2023 0 Comments Surrender the Key by D.J. MacHaleThe formula has shifted from one or all boys as the main characters to a boy with a sister, cousin or friend who is a girl as a secondary character, often with another boy forming a trio. I am growing increasingly weary of authors adding ethnically diverse minor characters to books instead of making the main character something other than white in the same way that I am profoundly frustrated with the proliferation of boys as main characters in middle grade fantasy. In fact, Marcus even comments that, with Lu, a red lipstick and plaid wearing Asian roller derby girl, and Theo, a buttoned up, bow-tie wearing academic black guy, Marcus says that the three of them look like a "kids' show trying to cover all its ethnic bases." Or, the look like characters in a middle grade novel where the author is trying to cover the ethnic bases while still keeping the main character a caucasian boy. He has the help of his appropriately diverse friends. In his quest to capture the Boggin and finish the story of the ghostly man in the bathrobe, Marcus is not alone. He also learns that the Boggin, an ancient boogeyman summoned by the Druids to keep children in line, has gone rogue. In this first book in the series, Marcus, who is adopted, learns about his parents, their mysterious deaths and the secret life his father led.
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