The extraordinary disappointments of Leopold Berry

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Title:

Alternate title:

Leopold Berry

Author:

Riggs, Ransom, author.

Series:

Sunderworld ;

Series Number:

v. 1.

Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max's Adventures in Sunderworld--and that's because they are. Not a good sign. In the blurry weeks after his mother's death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash--and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return--at the worst possible time on the worst possible day--Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he’ll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it’s in grave danger.

Audience:

Ages 14 and up. Dutton Books.

Grades 10-12. Dutton Books.

Physical Description:

326 pages ; 21 cm.

Genre:

Magic realist fiction.

Subject Term:

Best friends -- Fiction

Families -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Magic -- Fiction.

Television programs -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Dutton Books,

Publication Date:

2024

ISBN:

9780593530931

Publication Information:

New York, New York : Dutton Books, 2024.

Call Number:

YA RIGGS

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003754333	New Young Adult	RIGGS Ransom	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

The instant New York Times bestseller from visionary storyteller Ransom Riggs!

Weaving the familiar with the peculiar, this stunning tale of loss, triumph, friendship and magic, will remind readers everywhere that true heroes are made, not born--and when you're never the chosen one, sometimes you have to choose yourself.

Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won't leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max's Adventures in Sunderworld --and that's because they are.

Not a good sign.

In the blurry weeks after his mother's death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash--and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return--at the worst possible time on the worst possible day--Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he'll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it's in grave danger.

Certain he's finally been chosen for greatness, Leopold risks everything to claim his destiny, save the world of his childhood dreams, and prove once and for all that he's not the disappointment his father believes him to be. But when everything goes terribly, horribly, excruciatingly wrong, Leopold's disappointments prove to be more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined.

How do you battle darkness when no one believes in you--not even yourself?

Welcome to Sunderworld.

Author Notes

Ransom Riggs is a writer and filmmaker. He was born in Marland in 1980 and attended the Pine View School for the Gifted in Florida. He studied English literature at Kenyon College and studied film at the University of Southern California. His work on short films for the Internet and blogging for Mental Floss magazine got him a job writing The Sherlock Holmes Handbook which was released as a tie-in to the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film. Riggs had collected curious vernacular photographs and approached his publisher, Quirk Books, about using some of them in a picture book. On the suggestion of an editor, Riggs used the photographs as a guide from which to put together a narrative. The resulting book was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children which made The New York Times Best Seller list.

One of his other books inspired by old photographs entitled Taking Pictures was published in 2012. Hollow City, the sequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, also made The New York Times Best Seller List.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Riggs departs the Miss Peregrine universe to launch a fresh fantasy adventure grounded in contemporary Los Angeles. After his mother's death five years ago, Leopold Berry's grief-fueled obsession with the kitschy fantasy TV show Sunderworld began inducing "escapist dissociative episodes." Now 17 and "perfectly average," Leopold and his best friend Emmett learn that these seeming hallucinations are glimpses into an actual, magical Sunderworld that desperately seeks a powerful channeler to vanquish monsters and reverse magic shortages. Upon the duo's arrival to Sunderworld, Leopold must participate in a televised spellcasting test if he wants to become a channeler. But when he fails, he and Emmett are banished, and their memories magically wiped with spells that backfire. While Leopold's memories remain intact, Emmett develops troubling neurological symptoms, prompting Leopold to defy exile and search Sunderworld for a cure. What he finds instead is a deeper mystery involving an enigmatic girl, an enchanted map, and a charmed object that only he can activate. Riggs's incandescent storytelling, exquisite worldbuilding, and vivid characterization kick off a propulsive series starter that subverts the chosen-one trope via a self-made antihero who learns to choose himself. If Leopold finds more questions than answers, readers will be heartened by the promise of more adventure and intrigue following this whirlwind opener. Leopold is white; secondary characters are racially diverse. Ages 14--up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Aug.)

Excerpts

They stood on the sidewalk, hands cupped around their eyes, peering through the chain link fence. Above them loomed Angels Flight, beyond which they could make out the shadowy, weed-fringed rise of Bunker Hill. Leopold broke the silence. "We've been standing here a full minute. Are you going to explain why you dragged me back here?" "Just look," Emmet said anxiously, pointing into the gloom. "Halfway up, right side. What do you see?" Leopold squinted. "Crappy apartment buildings." "And there." Emmet's arm shifted higher and to the left. "What about over there?" "I don't know, man, it's pretty dark--" "How about a huge building with what looks like a crown on top? The US Bank Tower." "No." "Do you see any tall buildings at all ?" He was gesturing toward the crest of the hill now, cloaked in a fine shroud of mist. "There should be a bunch of skyscrapers." "Yeah." Leopold hesitated, then frowned. "I mean--no. I don't see any of that." "That's what I'm saying. Where the hell did they go?" Leopold blinked at Emmet. "What do you mean?" "What do you mean, what do I mean ?" He was getting frustrated. "They're gone." Leopold turned to face his friend. Emmet's eyes were wide, his expression bordering on panic. Emmet was freaking out--and Emmet never freaked out. "Buildings don't just disappear," Leopold said slowly. "Great. Yeah. Let's make a list of other obvious facts." Emmet shot him a stony look before returning his eyes to the hill. "First: Buildings don't just disappear. Second: I know what the downtown LA skyline is supposed to look like--and that's not it." "What are you trying to say? A minute ago you were giving me this big speech about how all this weirdness was just coincidental. Now you're making me think my episodes are contagious." Emmet was shaking his head. "I realize I just spent hours telling you that what you've been seeing isn't real. But I'm not seeing, like, half-human monsters outside motels. This feels like a cosmic problem. I was born and raised in this beautiful, disgusting city, and it's never looked like that. " He nodded toward the hill again, then took a deep breath. "There might be more than just a tiny bit of uncanny weirdness happening right now. And I need to know why." A snap of silent lightning split the night sky. They turned at the same time to gaze at Angels Flight. Inside the trolley, dimly, a light was burning. For a moment, neither boy drew breath. "Holy shit," Leopold said softly. Emmet turned to him. "You still have that token, right?" Excerpted from Sunderworld, Vol. I: the Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry by Ransom Riggs All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.