Troll Hunters

by Michael Dahl, Ben Kovar (Illustrator)

Overview

Far above the small town of Zion Falls, the stars fall from the sky. Deep below the sleepy city, an ancient evil awakens. Caught in the middle are four friends who find powers beyond their wildest dreams -- and monsters worse than their darkest nightmares.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781434259882
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	09/01/2012
Series:	Troll Hunters Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Michael Dahl is the prolific author of the bestselling Goodnight, Baseball picture book and more than 200 other books for children and young adults. He has won the AEP Distinguished Achievement Award three times for his nonfiction, a Teacher’s Choice award from Learning magazine, and a Seal of Excellence from the Creative Child Awards. Dahl currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Interviews

• Perfect for Halloween promotion • A thrilling, suspenseful fantasy novel • Set in an ordinary small town, a group of kids ban together to fight off mythical creatures

Editorial Reviews

This is definitely plot driven and the tension is all about what is going to happen next. Which I have to admit would appeal to many middle grade readers, especially boys. There is rarely a moment to catch your breath before another scary situation begins.

So I'm Fifty blog

Trolls are heavily abundant in “Troll Hunters” (Stone Arch Books, $12.95) by Michael Dahl, due on shelves in August. That’s good for the hunters and the readers, not so good for the trolls.

"Beach book bingo: There's no good reason to Asbury Park Press

This book is filled with some very interesting characters. Dahl did a great job with keeping up suspense and suspicion. The book has high adventure and action. It also has great illustrations that complement the story. I think this book would be great for kids that like a lot of action.

To Read or Not To Read blog

I have to say that Troll Hunters is on an epic scale and the author did a marvelous job creating the troll mythology. Fans of the Harry Potter series will enjoy reading this fantasy tale. I can easily see this book becoming a blockbuster feature film with dazzling special effects. Troll Hunters is a fast-paced, action-packed read that I recommend to everyone.

Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer blog

...full of thrills, chills and spooky mystery. I thought that both Troll Hunters and Hocus Pocus Hotel were fun and entertaining reads that I would recommend for middle grade to young adult readers. Both boys and girls alike will enjoy the engaging characters, mystery and intriguing plots.

Mom Loves 2 Read & blog

Both of these books are spooktacular in their own right as middle grade spooky books. The would make perfect reads for your young readers who like a little scare to their books.

Books 1

The four-part Troll Hunters series, which began with Skyfall (2012), is collected here in finished form. All is well in Zion Falls until the night of the Draconid meteor shower. Monstrous creatures arrive to swipe humans before our four teen heroes—Pablo, Zak, Thora, and Louise—find themselves in league with a wild-haired man named Dr. Hoo. Yes, these are trolls—or gathool, if you want to get technical—and they are out to enslave humanity. To find their missing families, the young friends head out to stop this insurmountable foe, armed with an array of magical powers they never knew they had. As it turns out, they are “the children of the stars” as predicted by the ancients. Pablo O’Ryan is actually Orion (get it?), and so forth. Dahl fills this noisy middle-grade actioner with plenty of fun, if not always logical, ideas, roping in everything from Lovecraftian mythos to an explanation for the infamous word Croatoan. Kovar’s plentiful, dramatic illustrations are absolutely key in lending spectacle to action scenes that are otherwise a bit confusing.

Booklist Online

Perfect for Halloween - a group of average teens discover that the world isn't what they once believed. The story itself is clearly aimed at late elementary or early middle school. The text has some difficult vocabulary words, but the story and context is generally strong enough to help the students struggling with comprehension to make some logical inferences.

NetGalley Review

I enjoyed Troll Hunters by Michael Dahl. It is a good story filled with constant action, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. The plot is strong and really exciting. The black and white illustrations by Ben Kovar are fantastic and really add to the story. The presentation of this book is on par with the other books I've read from Capstone. In a word, fantastic.

Sher a Hart: My Written Art blog

"Beneath the vast volcanic lakes / Beneath the fiery core, / An ancient, ageless Evil wakes / And starts to rise once more." This poem sets the tone for a horror tale that offers middle-graders a fast, compelling read. On the night of the Draconid meteor shower, trolls hungry for human flesh invade the rural town of Zion Falls. Four youngsters--Louise, Pablo, Zak and Thora--are saved by a three-armed man, Dr. Hoo, who predicts that they have magical powers that will save the world. The story mixes trolls from the Norse tradition with constellations from Greco-Roman mythology. Atmosphere builds with changing landscapes: Peaceful countryside morphs to menacing, while the trolls' underground home is a terrifying inferno. The four kids chosen as heroes have distinct characters and magical powers; other people merely serve the plot. The climax provides surprises and a bittersweet ending. Black-and-white illustrations add to the horror and mood of the story. Compulsive plot, non-stop action and the battle between modern-day good and ancient evil attract boys and girls alike, and the fast-moving narrative, lots of suspense and cumulating violence will keep them reading. A page-turner. (Horror. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews