The King of Average

My last few review books have been more on the serious side.  There's nothing wrong with wanting books that challenge your mind but every once in awhile you want to read a book that is just fun to read.  I thought it would be fun if my next book could be a book that both me and my eleven year old son could read and review together.  The King of Average by Gary Schwartz was perfect for both of us!

From the beginning of the story my son E said he could relate to the main character, James.  I completely agree.  Your heart goes out to this poor young man especially when you read about his relationship with his mother.  James was never wanted and his mother continuously reminds him of that fact.  E thanked me for always showing him love and never being like that with him.  I even got an "I love you," and a kiss on the cheek.  Such a precious moment!

James is an eleven year old boy who wants nothing more than to be average.  So much so that he is suddenly whisked away to a magical land who needs a king, a king of Average to be exact.  As the story unfolds you fall more in love with James and each of his companions who accompany him on his journey to Average.

James is a wonderful boy with an amazing heart despite living with the pain of his father leaving him at a young age and his mother constantly reminding him that life would be better without him.  It seemed to both me and E that the more James wanted to be average the more he realizes that he was not average at all!  His journey to Average shows him that he is not what his mother says.  He is someone special!

There are some wonderful illustrations throughout the book by Nicole Armitage that really help capture the characters.

E is a slower reader than his mama and is still reading but I cannot wait until he's done to find out what he thinks of the ending.  For the most part, I loved the ending.  My only wish was that there would've been more of the story with James returning from Average to his normal life and to see if the dynamic between him and his mother has changed now that he had grown so much as a person.

The King of Average is a wonderful story with fantasy characters and places that parallel true to life people and circumstances that we all face one time or another in our lives.  All of us have been at that place where we struggle to believe in ourselves but as The King of Average shows, with faith, perseverance, and support you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

ETA: After posting my review on Amazon the author commented on my review to let me know that he is currently working on a sequel to explore the mother/son relationship further in the book, Realm of Possibilities.  I can't wait! 

I received a complementary copy of this book through Reading Deals in exchange for an honest review