Twelve-year-old Mack MacAvoy suffers from a serious case of mediumness. Medium looks. Medium grades. Medium parents who barely notice him. With... read full description
reviews
Nov 28, 2011
Matti
rated it: 
David "Mack" MacAvoy on 12-vuotias koulupoika, joka on kaikin puolin keskiverto tapaus, mitä nyt kärsii useammasta kuin yhdestä fobiasta. Kesken koulukiusaajien myllytyksen hän saa kuulla olevansa tärkeä linkki muinaisessa hyvän ja pahan välisessä taistelussa.
Kalpeaksi Kuningattareksi nimitetty velhotar on nimittäin heräämässä ikiaikaisesta unestaan (itse asiassa vain 3000 vuoden unesta, mutta hänen voittajansa, Mahtavaksi 12:sta kutsuttu joukko, eivät aikanaan osanneet ku More...
Kalpeaksi Kuningattareksi nimitetty velhotar on nimittäin heräämässä ikiaikaisesta unestaan (itse asiassa vain 3000 vuoden unesta, mutta hänen voittajansa, Mahtavaksi 12:sta kutsuttu joukko, eivät aikanaan osanneet ku More...
Jan 12, 2011
Zarina
rated it: 
The Call is the first part in Michael Grant's The Magnificent 12 series and fills our 'ordinary' world with monsters, an evil princess, 12 year-old heroes, wizards and a very friendly but often quite daft Golem. Besides the entertaining storyline, the book is also incredibly humorous throughout. For example take this quote from the start of the second chapter:
"Grimluk was twelve years old. Like most twelve year-olds he had a job, a child, two wives and a cow. No. No, wait, that' More...
"Grimluk was twelve years old. Like most twelve year-olds he had a job, a child, two wives and a cow. No. No, wait, that' More...
Dec 29, 2010
nicole
rated it:
We got a copy of this book into the school library this week and it caused a little bit of a controversy in the sticker department. A co-worker wanted it labeled as humor and I wanted it to be labeled as adventure. I hadn't read many reviews of it, as not to cloud my Cybils judgment prior to reading, but from the obvious facts it was an adventure first. My co-worker, having flipped through it, was adamant that we market it as humor. Having now completed it, I humbly concede to her opinion.
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Dec 16, 2010
Michael
rated it: 
This is a brilliantly written, laugh out, adventure that is sure to be a must have for many middle school age readers. Mack's voice is one of wit, and laugh out loud sarcasm, as he comes to terms with being a leader of the Magnificent 12. The only problem is, he's got to find the other 11. If that wasn't bad enough, this true to life character knows how to work his away around the bullies who target him at school, but if he thought his life was weird, it's not until he saves the life of St More...
Dec 01, 2010
Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids
rated it:
4.5 stars
This is a brilliantly written, laugh out, adventure that is sure to be a must have for many middle school age readers. Mack's voice is one of wit, and laugh out loud sarcasm, as he comes to terms with being a leader of the Magnificent 12. The only problem is, he's got to find the other 11. If that wasn't bad enough, this true to life character knows how to work his away around the bullies who target him at school, but if he thought his life was weird, it's not until he saves t More...
This is a brilliantly written, laugh out, adventure that is sure to be a must have for many middle school age readers. Mack's voice is one of wit, and laugh out loud sarcasm, as he comes to terms with being a leader of the Magnificent 12. The only problem is, he's got to find the other 11. If that wasn't bad enough, this true to life character knows how to work his away around the bullies who target him at school, but if he thought his life was weird, it's not until he saves t More...
Nov 05, 2010
Quick read and has some promise
From my persepctive:
This book\series has some promise.
Fun quick read, but maybe a little rough around some of the edges.
I think some parts of the story could have been filled out a little more and not so sparce or jumpy on details.
I do have to say I could not get over some of the "long ago" back story things.
The whole people didn't know numbers over ten definately made me roll my eyes, and I thought the people were More...
From my persepctive:
This book\series has some promise.
Fun quick read, but maybe a little rough around some of the edges.
I think some parts of the story could have been filled out a little more and not so sparce or jumpy on details.
I do have to say I could not get over some of the "long ago" back story things.
The whole people didn't know numbers over ten definately made me roll my eyes, and I thought the people were More...
Oct 26, 2010
Cindy
rated it:
David MacAvoy—Mack for short—is an unlikely hero. He’s 12, picked on by bullies, and he has a phobia of nearly everything. Unexpectedly he finds himself under the protection of the school’s biggest bully and getting messages from strange old men who can stop time. Then he learns that he’s one of a group of 12 kids who are the only ones who can save the world from an evil queen who’s been imprisoned for thousands of years. It’s too much for Mack to believe, until many unbelievable things start t
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Oct 27, 2010
Katieb (MundieMoms)
rated it:
4.5 stars
This is a brilliantly written, laugh out, adventure that is sure to be a must have for many middle school age readers. Mack's voice is one of wit, and laugh out loud sarcasm, as he comes to terms with being a leader of the Magnificent 12. The only problem is, he's got to find the other 11. If that wasn't bad enough, this true to life character knows how to work his away around the bullies who target him at school, but if he thought his life was weird, it's not until he saves t More...
This is a brilliantly written, laugh out, adventure that is sure to be a must have for many middle school age readers. Mack's voice is one of wit, and laugh out loud sarcasm, as he comes to terms with being a leader of the Magnificent 12. The only problem is, he's got to find the other 11. If that wasn't bad enough, this true to life character knows how to work his away around the bullies who target him at school, but if he thought his life was weird, it's not until he saves t More...
Jun 21, 2010
Margo
rated it:
This is a great book for kids who like fantasy/adventure mixed with some laugh-out-loud humor. In this book we have an unlikely hero, 12-year old Mack, who suffers from "a severe case of mediumness." Except for his phobias--he has so many of them that he even has a phobia of phobias. But one day, Mack is called upon by a funny-looking old man who appears in his middle-school bathroom to join The Magnificent 12, whose mission is to save the world from the evil force of the "Pale Qu
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Aug 15, 2011
sage
rated it:
Rounding up from 2 and a half stars.
Disability tag for two elderly and debilitated characters, both portrayed as grotesque and horrible, even though only one is a bad guy.
Gender-politics tag because the major villains are female, and while there are some neutral-to-positive female characters, this is a great example of the puerocracy/paedocracy at work: 12 year old boy has to defeat the evil females and also decide how much to embrace the good females.
Warning More...
Disability tag for two elderly and debilitated characters, both portrayed as grotesque and horrible, even though only one is a bad guy.
Gender-politics tag because the major villains are female, and while there are some neutral-to-positive female characters, this is a great example of the puerocracy/paedocracy at work: 12 year old boy has to defeat the evil females and also decide how much to embrace the good females.
Warning More...
Oct 21, 2010
Brittany
rated it:
David had no desire to become a hero. He was actually afraid of a lot of things. To name a few things he was afraid of, he had arachnophobia, pyrophobia, thalassophobia and claustrophobia along with many other very scary phobias. So when a creepy old man freezes time and talks to him, he isn't really sure what to do. Later on this same old man tells him he has to go on a journey to save the world from The Pale Queen. David, called Mack, really doesn't want to go, but present danger sets him of o
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Aug 31, 2011
Books for Me - Linda
rated it:
Mack is the unlikely hero. He has a phobia for everything and therefore being a hero was never on his to-do list. At the age of twelve he is called by magic to save the world from the Pale Queen who has been locked away for 3,000 years. The old ones thought that was forever but the 3,000 years are almost up and they must unite the 12 who possess the enlightened puissance to save the world.There are forces, mainly a very angry daughter named Princess Ereskigal, who support the Pale Queen and want
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Sep 04, 2011
Chris
rated it:
Excellent kids books, especially boys and reluctant readers. David (Mack) McAvoy is your basic average kids - although he DOES have an awful lot of phobias - whose biggest real problem is dealing with the many varieties of bullies at his school. (There are so many bullies they have to specialize: a bully for nerds, a bully for jocks, etc.) But then the weird stuff starts to happen. An incredibly old man shows up, freezes time, and tells Mack he is one of the 12 Magnifica that must save the world
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Oct 24, 2011
08SarahR
rated it:
Mack is just an ordinary kid untill he gets a suprise visit. Time is frozen and he is visited by this old dude that tells him is is going to save the world. Mack thought he was the last kid on earth to save the world. The old guy also said he was part of the magnificent 12. He was told he had to go find the other 12 before the pale queen was unchained. That was a lot to handle in a day.
He joins up with a bully at his school that he has befriended, Stefan, and they go to Australia More...
He joins up with a bully at his school that he has befriended, Stefan, and they go to Australia More...
Aug 18, 2011
Laura
rated it:
A fun read which should appeal to boys in the 8-12 range.
David "Mack" MacAvoy is a 12-year-old boy with a lot of problems. He is targeted by Stefan, the school's uber bully ("there was one bully to rule them all, one bully to find them, one bully to bring them all and in the darkness pound them" in a great Lord of the Rings riff). He suffers a variety of phobias. And he is destined to gather a group of kids, the Magnificent 12, to battle the dread Pale Queen who was More...
David "Mack" MacAvoy is a 12-year-old boy with a lot of problems. He is targeted by Stefan, the school's uber bully ("there was one bully to rule them all, one bully to find them, one bully to bring them all and in the darkness pound them" in a great Lord of the Rings riff). He suffers a variety of phobias. And he is destined to gather a group of kids, the Magnificent 12, to battle the dread Pale Queen who was More...
Feb 13, 2011
Karen
rated it:
The only thing about Mack McAvoy that's not completely average is the LONG list of phobias he has... so many that he even has a phobia of phobias. The only thing he doesn't seem to be afraid of are the school bullies, and in a bizarre twist, he actually saves the life of Stefan, who is 15 in the 8th grade and the worst bully of all. For this, Stefan says to all that Mack is "Under My Wing." Add to this a nasty looking old man called Grimluk who can stop time while talking to the tw
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Jul 12, 2010
Dan
rated it:
Phobias, not fears. Mack has phobias. He’s scared of all sorts of stuff. Okay, he’s terrified of all sorts of stuff. Sure, we all have a fear or two but Mack has more than a few. The crazy thing, he’s not scared of stuff he should be, like the bullies in his school. Mack’s lack of fear for things that really should be scary for him puts him in a situation to be an unlikely hero for a particular bully. When weird mud boy shows up at his house and old dude shows up in the toilet (okay, it’s actual
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Sep 02, 2011
TheBookSmugglers
rated it:
Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/08/the-...
At twelve years old, Mack is a pretty ordinary kid leading a pretty ordinary life. He does an average job at school, he has a few friends, a pair of decent (if constantly distracted) parents, and manages to avoid sticking out in almost every way. Except there is something decidedly un-ordinary about Mack, even though he doesn’t quite know it. You see, Mack has a list of phobias – from sharks (galeopho More...
At twelve years old, Mack is a pretty ordinary kid leading a pretty ordinary life. He does an average job at school, he has a few friends, a pair of decent (if constantly distracted) parents, and manages to avoid sticking out in almost every way. Except there is something decidedly un-ordinary about Mack, even though he doesn’t quite know it. You see, Mack has a list of phobias – from sharks (galeopho More...
Jan 14, 2011
Beate
rated it:
I would give this book 3.5 stars if I could, but oh well.
I didn't really have that high expectations about this book. I found this book in my library, so I though it looked okay and decided to read it.
This book was really funny, and the small comments made the story humorous and spiced up the text. But I think the author relayed a little to much on pop culture references. Some of them fit the story,but much of it seems...off to me. Some of the slang also seemed very awkwa More...
I didn't really have that high expectations about this book. I found this book in my library, so I though it looked okay and decided to read it.
This book was really funny, and the small comments made the story humorous and spiced up the text. But I think the author relayed a little to much on pop culture references. Some of them fit the story,but much of it seems...off to me. Some of the slang also seemed very awkwa More...
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Oct 25, 2010
Robert
rated it:
let’s talk about this book, starting with the opening lines:
David MacAvory—whose friends called him Mack—was not an unlikely hero. He was an impossible hero.
First, there was the fact that he was only twelve years old. And then there was the fact that he was not especially big, strong, kind, or good-looking.
Plus he was scared. Scared of what? Quite a list of things… (what follows is a list of things David is afraid of—MG Ninja)
…So this was not a twe More...
David MacAvory—whose friends called him Mack—was not an unlikely hero. He was an impossible hero.
First, there was the fact that he was only twelve years old. And then there was the fact that he was not especially big, strong, kind, or good-looking.
Plus he was scared. Scared of what? Quite a list of things… (what follows is a list of things David is afraid of—MG Ninja)
…So this was not a twe More...
Sep 01, 2010
Anju
rated it:
Disclaimer: I won this book from the publisher through a GoodReads giveaway.
The Call is the first book in a series about Mack and the Magnificent Twelve. Mack is twelve years old, and the first of the Magnificent Twelve.
While I wouldn't call this book one of my favorites, it has an entertainingly breezy style. The book is full of references to pop culture and the here and now: cell phones, iPhones, Yoda, Wal-Mart, Iron Man... The list goes on, and at first, it was a bit More...
The Call is the first book in a series about Mack and the Magnificent Twelve. Mack is twelve years old, and the first of the Magnificent Twelve.
While I wouldn't call this book one of my favorites, it has an entertainingly breezy style. The book is full of references to pop culture and the here and now: cell phones, iPhones, Yoda, Wal-Mart, Iron Man... The list goes on, and at first, it was a bit More...
Aug 26, 2011
Lyrical
rated it:
I was very excited to get this book because not only was it free, it was by Michael Grant whose Gone books are a real favourite of mine. This is definitely a middle grade (9-12) book, however, and although I do like the occasional MG book that has good YA appeal this one was definitely well suited to the younger, and especially male, readership.
The main character, Mack, is a great hero, especially for kids as even though he has many flaws – including 21 phobias – he shows great coura More...
The main character, Mack, is a great hero, especially for kids as even though he has many flaws – including 21 phobias – he shows great coura More...
Jan 23, 2012
Dezzy
rated it:
This book is for the younger age, but I enjoyed it very much! It's meant to be a humorous book and I liked it a lot!
Book summary: So 12-year-old 'Mack', a boy with with 21 phobias, goes to school one day and a 3 thousand year old man shows up in the boys bathroom with a message. It's soon revealed he is one of the Magnificent 12 and has a mission to save the world from the rising of the pale queen. Mack has to travel all over the world with a million bucks at hand (givin to him by th More...
Book summary: So 12-year-old 'Mack', a boy with with 21 phobias, goes to school one day and a 3 thousand year old man shows up in the boys bathroom with a message. It's soon revealed he is one of the Magnificent 12 and has a mission to save the world from the rising of the pale queen. Mack has to travel all over the world with a million bucks at hand (givin to him by th More...
Mar 12, 2011
Kristin
rated it:
This book is an adventurous, fun, quick read that made me laugh out loud. Mack is a twelve year old boy who has many phobias, but isn’t daunted by trouble and stands up to the bullies in his school. Mack save’s the worst bully of them all, Stefan, the bully of all the bullies. Mack soon learns that he is one of the magnificent 12 who must save the world from the “Pale Queen.” This book has a lot of adventure, very cute (Golem’s notes), and humorous (bowling as an elective and AP Yoga is my
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Feb 10, 2011
foo4luv
rated it:
With his long list of phobias (including hydrophobia, claustrophobia, and even phobophobia), Mack is the impossible hero. Nevertheless, it's up to him to assemble the Magnifica: a team of twelve 12-year-olds who must combine their powers to defeat the greatest evil the world has ever known: the Pale Queen. With a golem (Mack substitute) in place at home to tend to Mack's everyday life, our hero sets out into the world accompanied by Stefan Marr, his personal bully-turned-bodyguard, and absolut
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Dec 01, 2010
Andrew
rated it:
In this awesome book, Mack, the main character, suffers from a serious case of mediumness and a very, very, very long list of phobias. When the school bully announces that Mack is under his wing after Mack saved his life, suddenly, a guy that reeks that thousand year old fish appears and freezes time. While time is frozen, he tells Mack that he is one of the Magnificient 12, a group of 12 year olds that must save the world from the Pale Queen, whose imprisoning sentence, set by the original Magn
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Oct 26, 2011
Colleen
rated it:
This book was good and unusual in the way it was written. I have to say that Mack is similar to the main character in Need from what I've read of it (aka the first few chapters) in that he has a million phobias, a lot of which are the same, but I liked the way it was handled in an almost comical way.
He and Stephan really made this book for me followed closely by Golem. I can't wait for the next in the series.
My criticism would be that it was too rushed in places. I didn't feel like I More...
He and Stephan really made this book for me followed closely by Golem. I can't wait for the next in the series.
My criticism would be that it was too rushed in places. I didn't feel like I More...
Aug 27, 2010
Erika
rated it:
a goodreads giveaway winner... thank you for the shiny new hardcover!
This is an entertaining start to a new middle grade fiction series. I imagine this story as being most enjoyed by ten to twelve year olds and even younger, especially read out loud by a parent chapter by chapter before bed.
The story switches between Mack in the present day and Grimluk "a really, really long time ago" as they both join forces with the magnificent twelve (the Magnifica) to over More...
This is an entertaining start to a new middle grade fiction series. I imagine this story as being most enjoyed by ten to twelve year olds and even younger, especially read out loud by a parent chapter by chapter before bed.
The story switches between Mack in the present day and Grimluk "a really, really long time ago" as they both join forces with the magnificent twelve (the Magnifica) to over More...
May 01, 2011
Kyle
rated it:
There were a lot of great things about this book. It does a good job of setting up the series (I wonder if there will be 12 books). I think the strongest element to the story was the way it was told. The back and forth between "A really long time ago.." and present time helped to make us care and understand the dire mission that Mack will be facing. If it was completely present-time only I don't think it would have come off as well. Definitely funny stuff as well - especially the lette
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Oct 02, 2010
Rebecca
rated it:
When I entered the drawing to win this book here on Goodreads, I did so because I thought it sounded rather interesting. And that is a pretty good summation of the book itself. It's a rather interesting story altogether. Mack, the protagonist, is a relateable character, especially for those of us who share some of his phobias. The storytelling itself was done in a matter-of-fact, almost conversational tone, and there were several times I actually laughed out loud at the humor.
On More...
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