Title: Stanley Brambles and the Lost City
Author: Owen Spendlove
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-4917-7866-1
Pages: 367
Genres: Young adult, fantasy, action/adventure
Reviewed by: Jenn Weiss
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Pacific Book Review
Stanley Brambles is a typical thirteen-year-old boy with all the trials of an 8th grader including homework and bullies, even developing new crushes. But one thing about Stanley that is not normal is his re-occurring nightmares and visions about a floating, giant crystal. Stanley knows the crystal is important, but he doesn’t know why, nor does he know what exactly it is. Once again, Stanley and his friends Alabaster and Nell are thrown into a whirlwind of an adventure in the jungles of Verduria on Terra, in search of the legendary city of Quetzal’Khan, home to the crystal haunting Stanley’s dreams. The city is also supposed to be home to an unknown evil power that is corrupting the jungle and those inhabiting it. Stanley and his friends team up with Stanley’s long lost cousin to discover this lost city, and what exactly is this evil power.Owen Spendlove has an exceptional talent for storytelling. He takes a subject every child dreams of, going on a wild adventure, and brings it to life for Stanley. Owen captivates his audience from start to finish. He has a humorous style of writing that is entertaining and engaging. Owen writes an action packed story that is light hearted in nature. His dialogue is on point and reflects how a thirteen-year-old boy would think and speak. Too often teen novels have the characters speaking and acting well beyond their years, but that is not the case with Owen’s work; the kids in this book are actually kids.
Stanley learns how to deal with a variety of issues throughout the story including the stressful issue of developing a crush on one of his best friends. Owen artfully weaves these issues into the storyline and writes how Stanley learns to overcome them. In this series Stanley relies on his own strengths and knowledge to accomplish his goals. Something I would have liked explained a little more was Stanley’s dream, what happened in the dream? Did he dream of just a giant blue crystal or did something else happen in the dream?
I enjoyed reading this book, it reminded me of the innocence of childhood, and occasionally adults need that reminder. “Stanley Brambles and the Lost City” is marketed as a teen action adventure novel, and I would agree. I would highly recommend this book for children ages 10 to 14 best. Stanley Brambles and the Lost City is a great second edition to the Stanley series; I cannot wait to see what adventure is in store for Stanley and his friends.
