Homerooms and Hall Passes

Homerooms and Hall Passes #1

by Tom O'Donnell

“You can’t help falling in love with this hilarious upside-down take on Dungeons & Dragons. I read; I cheered; I laughed out loud.”—Gordon Korman In the mystical realm of Bríandalör, every day the brave and the bold delve into hidden temples or forgotten dungeons, battling vile monsters and evil wizards to loot their treasure hoards for sweet, sweet magic items. But in their free time, our heroes—Thromdurr the mighty barbarian, Devis the shifty thief, Vela the noble paladin, Sorrowshade the Gloom Elf assassin, and Albiorix the (good!) wizard—need to relax and unwind. That’s why they meet up once a week to play Homerooms & Hall a role-playing game where they assume the characters of average American eighth graders. But when the five young adventurers are magically transported into their H&H game by an ancient curse, they must band together to survive their toughest challenge middle school. Who knew that battling ogres would be easier than passing algebra or navigating the cafeteria social scene? They must use what they’ve learned from playing Homerooms & Hall Passes to figure out how to save their game world (which might actually be real...). Dungeons & Dragons meets Jumanji in this new, laugh-out-loud adventure series from the author of the beloved Hamstersaurus Rex series.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Humor, Adventure, Fiction, Juvenile, Childrens

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2019

About the author

Tom O'Donnell has written for The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and several TV shows. Tom lives with his wife and kids in Brooklyn, NY.

Reviews

[Brandon Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Middle school is truly brutal,” said Sorrowshade, “and I say this as someone whose entire family was eaten by minotaurs.”

So, so charming. A clever premise and a squad of likeable characters have me hoping this is the beginning of a series. This is perfect for the young (and not-so-young) nerd on your list.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was this amazing? Uh, not really. But I immensely enjoyed listening to it. I was giggling almost the whole time. I don't think you have to be super familiar with D&D to get this, but as a D&D player, I found it hilarious. I look forward to the next one. Highly recommended for anyone who wants a light, fun read.

2021 challenge: a book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads

[Jenna (Falling Letters) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally published 3 April 2020 at Falling Letters.

I thought Homeroom & Hall Passes's premise sounded hilarious and unique. My initial concern was that it would be over-the-top silly, but it is not. For example, each chapter begins with an excerpt from “The Hall Master’s Guide”. These excerpts, while funny enough to make me chuckle, also often frame the unique experiences of middle school in such a way as to validate the challenges readers may experience.

In the real world, political authority comes from noble birth, or in rare cases because someone found a magic sword. But in middle school, class presidents are chosen democratically. This process involves homemade posters, wildly unrealistic promises, and capturing a plurality of the votes cast by the class. Though the title of class president is largely meaningless, it is still relentlessly sought by Overachievers, Nerds, Jocks, and Class Clowns alike. (Pg. 162)

The story is told from Hall Master Albiorix’s perspective. He functions as the grounded and relatable character of the party. As the HM, he doesn’t have a character to embody once his party is sucked into the game. Albiorix remains himself and gives readers an easy entry point into the worlds of Bríandalör and Homerooms & Hall Passes.

The story balances mundane and fantasy elements. I appreciated that the main conflict ultimately involved a fantastical demon rather than just ‘defeating’ middle school. I think that would have pushed the book too close to contemporary fiction (rather than speculative) for my tastes. No spoilers, but the conclusion wasn’t quite what I expected. It adds a lot to the story. I imagine readers unfamiliar with D&D could still enjoy this book, while readers who are familiar with D&D will get even more laughs out of it.

The Bottom Line: A refreshing mash-up of the quest narrative and surviving middle school stories. Try it with readers who love both or either fantasy and contemporary (and of course, with D&D players).

[Rebecca McPhedran · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really fun take on a dungeons and dragons game!

A group of adventurers is cursed when one of them steals a ruby from a cave. When the group goes to play their weekly game of Homerooms and Hall Passes; the group is magically transported into their game. Now they are faced with their biggest challenge yet-surviving middle school! They must learn new skills, like Algebra I to stay alive, and save their game world...which might actually be real.

This book was really fun to read. Although I don’t have any DnD background, I could definitely relate to this great band of characters. This book is up for the Maine Student Book Award, and it definitely has a good chance of winning! I think those who love the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan would love Homerooms and Hall Passes!

[Trin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative, fun, and funny -- O'Donnell came up with a great premise (the reverse of every "D&D party sucked into a fantasy world" story -- this time it's an adventuring party sucked into the real world...of middle school) and follows through on it with energy and panache.

I will admit that would I would REALLY like is to read a similar story with older characters and more interest in the body (a typical roleplaying scenario would involve much more cross-species and cross-gender exploration and shenanigans, aspects which O'Donnell sidesteps). But it's not really fair to impose my specific interests on this book, which I think very much accomplishes what it set out to do.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and really well done, this has hints of Stranger Things about it. The characters are great, and the stakes feel believable. Also Stinky and all his soups were extremely entertaining. Great for middle school readers looking for an adventure that blends fantasy and reality.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF'd the audiobook after about one hour (of 8) over the course of one day.

Look, there's nothing really wrong with this book. It likely would have gotten a third star out of me if I'd stuck with it. Why am I moving on so quickly (especially since I so rarely abandon books)?

1) If I wanted to experience a group of people puzzling out how to deal with a situation from the perspectives of their characters with a bit of metagaming, I'd just get together with my D&D group. Added bonus of that: they don't (usually) act like middle schoolers.

2) Who is this book even written for? I know tabletop RPGs are experiencing a surge of popularity, but how many middle schoolers have played/been exposed to enough of that to appreciate not only the fantasy tropes but also the tropes of the people playing the game? And, even in the first chapter where they're still in the fantasy world, the writing feels too young to appeal to older teens and adults.

3) I found out that Tim Curry read the audiobooks for Garth Nix's Abhorsen series. Rereading those wasn't super high priority for me, but TIM. CURRY. His reading of A Series of Unfortunate Events was one of the best audiobooks I've read.

So, yeah. The book's fine. I just don't feel like reading it right now. It's possible I'll pick it back up someday, but don't hold your breath. I think I've gotten enough of a feel for it.

[Misti · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an adventurer's life for Apprentice Mage Albiorix and his four friends (a Paladin, a Thief, a Barbarian, and a Shadow Elf). They earn their living through completing various quests, but once a week, they gather in the back room of a local inn for some light entertainment: a game of Homerooms and Hall Passes. In this game, they take on various roles (the Nerd, the Loner, the Class Clown) and complete various nonadventures at J. A. Dewar Middle School. All well and good, until certain peculiar circumstances result in the characters being pulled into their own game. Now, they face challenges that they had never imagined: class elections, using computers for assignments, and worst of all... algebra! How can they escape from this nightmare and return to their own realm?

I found this book delightfully amusing. The characters were great, the pacing kept me reading at a brisk clip, and the premise was just such fun. Recommended for middle-school fantasy enthusiasts, and anyone who's ever rolled for initiative.

[Jos · Rating 3 out of 5]

A middle grade reverse adventure novel where 5 youths from a fantasy realm are transported into their modern world TTRPG.

While the concept was neat, there were some hints and setup for larger things, but it ultimately didn't seem to go anywhere. The other challenge was that the last 70% added a layer of complication that didn't seem necessary for a middle grade adventure.

I liked the reverse take on people transported to a fantasy realm but felt like there could have been a bit more whimsy.

A fine read if you are a fan of TTRPGS and would like to share a kid friendly read with the young one in your life.

[J.D. Holman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good take on the tabletop role-playing game going the other way - from the fantasy realm to a contemporary middle school. I didn't find it as funny as some other reviewers did, but maybe that's my sense of humor. It's enjoyable nonetheless.

Its strengths are definitely when fantasy is involved. The actual middle school stuff was sort of meh. It really needed the big bad from the players' world coming through to liven things. Maybe that's the point? The game within the book, the titular Homerooms & Hall Passes, is supposed to be dull.

The main sticking point with this book is, who is the intended audience? Would my students who play D&D enjoy it? Would my library D&D players who are homeschooled get a kick out of it, or would they miss the references? Or is it for seasoned TTRPG players such as myself?

June is my favorite character, and I hope she's in the sequel.

[heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the premise. What a fun twist on events. I don't play fantasy games, but I have a little bit of knowledge so I understood what was going on. Cute but nothing I am going to rave about. I also don't have any interest in reading anymore in the series. I didn't find that characters memorable enough. That being said D&D fantasy isn't my thing.

Also I think I have a problem with the ending but maybe I wasn't reading it closely enough.

[Andy Ribaudo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun twist on RPGLit -- in this story the MCs are adventurers from a D&D-like world who get trapped in a weird game world, a middle school.

I don't typically like YA books, and this was even younger than YA, but it all worked. I loved the idea of creatures from another universe getting stuck in our world, and the sarcastic humor was great!

I think my favorite part was the adventurers trying to understand algebra -- "but if it's math, why are there letters instead of numbers?!"

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is hands-down my favorite D&D parody/isekai novel. (Come on, it's basically like all the isekai LNs in terms of base plot.) You really do need a basic familiarity with tabletop RPGs in order to fully get the humor, however.

[The Bookish Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh I giggled so much throughout this novel.

[Liam Langan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because it involves one of my favorite games dungeons and dragons but in reverse. So instead of us playing the fantasy world, the fantasy world plays us, and they get sucked into the game like in Jumanji and have to live in our world. I would defiantly recommend this to anyone who likes to play D&D or has heard of it before and wants to know about the gist of it.

[Tabitha Pantozzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darcy has been begging me to read this book since I met her. I hate that I put it off for so long because I absolutely loved it!! If you’re open to reading middle grade fiction and love DnD I highly recommend Homerooms and Hall Passes. It’s so cute and funny in a way that made me laugh out loud multiple times while I was listening to it (the audiobook was specifically a great time)

[Elizabeth Moraff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a totally different kind of YA fiction than what I usually read, and I’m glad to have read it! Tightly plotted, clever, hilarious, and relatable. Tongue-in-cheek from beginning to end in a way that had me groaning over my own middle school memories and laughing at the tropes of the fantasy genre. O’Donell has written a book that groups of friends, parents and kids, can all enjoy.

[Kiera Beddes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun premise - a group of adventurers in the magical land of Bríandolor like to get together and unwind playing a role-playing game called “Homerooms & Hallpasses” until one they they are accidentally cursed and are stuck inside the game! They have to navigate the horrors of middle school in Suburbia! 😱 Whatever shall they do??

This is a great book for fantasy lovers and especially for your local D&D dungeon master. Lots of fun nods to the game but also fun observations on the all the tricks and traps of middle school.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was funny and if you even have a passing interest in D&D, you’ll love concept. Heroes use to extraordinary quests and challenges, dumped into a utterly normal suburban middle school. Hilarious antics and misunderstandings ensue.
The reason I gave it only 3 stars is because I thought the book was an okay read for me. It made me smile at some of the funny antics and I enjoyed it enough to read the whole thing. But I’m 22, and not the intended audience for this book. I think my 11 year old cousin will absolutely love it and really get a kick out of it. But it doesn’t hold up to adult readers the way I feel Harry Potter or even Percy Jackson does. I do think it will be a great read for the books intended middle grade audience.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

RATING: 4.5 Stars

Pitched as Dungeons & Dragons meets Jumanji, this book upends the familiar portal fantasy trope in a clever parody of roleplaying games. It's full of dry, tongue-in-cheek humor that never took itself too seriously, and I absolutely loved every hilarious second of it.

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[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so funny!! What a genius concept -- reverse D&D, where fantasy creatures play a game where they pretend to be humans, and then ofc they're sent into that world. So many middle grade books are vaguely humorous, but this one was like, actually very funny. I think a lot of middle schoolers would love it, especially nerdy boys.

[Rowan McKenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book so far. This book has vocabulary that makes it a good reading level for most middle schoolers, I definitely recommend it to people 12 to 14. It is a very interesting, fun book that is especially entertaining if you play D&D.

[Debbie Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new favorite book! Read the full review here https://imtanner.blogspot.com/2019/12...

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, that was fun. Of course, I was tickled by the concept as clever, but I was afraid it would be a one-joke idea that quickly grew stale. It doesn't. O'Donnell not only does a masterful job of constantly finding new humor to mine from the setup and continuously developing the concept, he manages to tell a well-plotted story with good character development and real emotion. I was pleasantly surprised and delightfully engaged. I definitely recommend this one.

It begins with a group of hardy adventurers from a fantasy realm gathering in the backroom of a tavern for a night of relaxation playing their favorite role-playing game.

In Homerooms & Hall Passes, the players embodied "middle-school students," but the Hall Master was in charge of basically everything else. It was Albiorix's job to plan ahead, set the scene, arbitrate the rules, and most important, make sure everyone was having fun. He'd spend hours every week drawing up maps, planning out challenges, and poring over the countless H&H sourcebooks that filled his satchel.

The module he was currently running was called The Semester of Stultification. In tonight's game, the players would face a daunting series of challenges: a grueling five-paragraph essay dumped on their characters right at the beginning of JADMS Spirit Week. Not to mention an upcoming earth sciences quiz, a concert band recital, a class election, and a big algebra test. To rise to these challenges would take skill, cunning, impeccable time management, and of course a few lucky rolls of the dice. Albiorix chuckled maniacally to himself.

The players sit down to play when an evil curse is activated and they suddenly find themselves within the game, having become the characters they had imagined: a class clown, an overachiever, a loner, and a nerd. And a "new kid," as the game master didn't have a character. They quickly discover it takes more than a high dice roll on a skill check to pass a quiz and algebra problems can't be solved by smashing them with a mighty hammer. They're stuck, and their only hope of survival is not failing the game's goals by succeeding as middle school students. They rise to the challenge and set about figuring out this strange, new world they must now navigate, peers, teachers, administrators, parents, and all.

Game master Albiorix is lucky enough to have been transported with all of his sourcebooks, which he relies on heavily in learning how to get by. Each chapter begins with a short excerpt from one of them, all of which are highly entertaining. There's The Hall Master's Guide, of course, and also The Tome of Teachers, The Codex of Cliques, The Cyclopedia of Students, and more than twenty others, each filled with information and statistics about everything they see.

Though the school day should obviously remain the focus of play, it is important to remember that in Suburbia, school isn't everything. Optometrist appointments, long waits in grocery-store parking lots, flossing before bed--a creative Hall Master can turn such experiences into miniature nonadventures all their own!

Luckily, though the point of H&H is to provide a break from fantasy adventures by immersing players in nonadventures, this book is not the least bit stultifying. It's a tale worth sharing in taverns everywhere.

"Bah!" said Thromdurr. "If a task is easy, it is hardly worth doing. The purest joy in life is meeting great challenges head-on and bludgeoning them into submission. Otherwise the empty feeling returns. Mark my words: I will master earth sciences yet!"

[Dr. T Loves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

What it’s about: In the land of Briandalor, five young adventurers have found riches, faced evils, and formed a strong friendship. And when not adventuring, they like to get together and play the game Homerooms and Hall Passes - a role-playing game in which the Briandalorians pretend they are "middle school students" in the strange world of "Suburbia." In the game, they must overcome homework, deal with bullies, and make sure they pass their classes. The five adventurers enjoy pretending to live in such a strange world!

But when an ancient, powerful curse is triggered, the five adventurers find themselves pulled out of the world of Briandalor, and suddenly appearing inside their favorite game, where they have become their player-characters! Barbarian becomes nerd; paladin becomes Overachiever; gloom elf becomes goth; thief becomes class clown; and apprentice wizard (and the game's Hall Master) becomes... a new kid in school.

Although they have taken on the names of their characters, the adventurers find themselves without the skill sets of those characters -- Thromdurr the Barbarian is very good at smashing evildoers with warhammers, but as his character, the nerd Doug schiller, he does not know how to solve algebra equations. Nor do any of the other adventurers know how to cope with this strange new world.

They quickly realize this is a major problem. By the rules of the curse, if they cannot beat the game (fit in and pass their classes), they will Blow It and be ejected from the game - which will mean their deaths!

As the five adventurers scramble to figure out how to adjust to their strange predicament, they are unaware that a dark presence is lurking that could mean the end of the land of Suburbia.

What I thought: This was a fun inversion of the "players get pulled into their favorite game" trope. I really enjoyed Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series back in the day, in which college kids are pulled into an all-too-real version of the D&D game they've been playing. This takes that script, flips it on its head, and makes it middle-school friendly.

Why I chose those shelves: The story deals with middle school tropes - a group of popular mean girls, a bully and his minions, tough teachers, mean administrators - which includes some bullying behavior; the story is set in a school, and is about kids trying to learn and be students; there is action and adventure sprinkled liberally throughout the story, though it is sometimes twisted in fun and clever ways; the story mostly follows Albiorix the Wizard, though it does follow a few other characters in a few places; this is almost an inverted urban fantasy, in that the main characters are used to living in a medieval, magic-filled world, but are pulled into a modern middle school setting; a phone-based video game called Oink Pop plays a pivotal role in the story; the main characters are mostly marginalized by the other middle school students; there are spirits and demons in various points throughout the book; algebra plays a surprisingly large role in the story.

Why I rated it like I did: This was an enjoyable, humorous inversion of the trope of characters being pulled into a game world. It also includes some nice lessons for the characters that middle grades readers might learn from. This would make a great addition to a middle school collection!

[Stephen Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Homerooms and Hall Passes by Tom O’Donnell is the first book in a series that follows four protagonists as they find themselves cursed and transported from their medieval Dungeons and Dragons-esque world to a world full of trial and tribulations that they’ve never faced the likes of before – middle school.

This book and its premise are absurd and the book acknowledges it and runs with it, which I loved. Normally portal fantasies involve someone from our world entering fantasy land, but joy of this book is that it does the opposite and plays with how people from other worlds can survive the dangers of middle school. It’s entertaining to think that perhaps in an alternate universe people might engage in a roleplaying version of our world, and seeing the main characters use the game manuals to exploit little known knowledge was fun.

I could spend time rattling off the many various small things that made me smile or laugh (my favorite had to be Stinky’s character backstory), but I want to write a little about the unsolved mysteries this book poses. I’m glad this book isn’t a stand alone novel, as it leaves the giant question open of if our world, the world of Homerooms and hall passes, actually real? Or is it simply some fantasy land that exists only to the extent it is a game? The book doesn’t really address the question. There is something else I found perplexing – when the protagonists enter the realm of Homerooms and Hall Passes, they assume the roles of their characters and every person they meet accepts them as such with no cognitive dissonance like why a nerd looks like a barbarian. When the players return to their world for a brief period of time and return to the game, June notes that she had been looking for them everywhere (308). This implies that when the protagonists had been away, their characters no longer existed in the world. Again, this leaves me asking, did this world exist before the players entered it? And if it did, what happens to the characters the protagonists embodied if they never return? All in all, these are some world building questions I really would like to see answered in a future sequel.

Probably the only thing I found jarring about the book was during the showdown against Zazirak, when the protagonists are losing, they are rescued by Archmage Velaxis and brought back to their world. Honestly, this felt like a really bizarre deus ex machina moment to me that I wasn’t a fan of. Was this really necessary for the plot to have the protagonists bounce between worlds over the next chapter? I feel like it could have been written differently to not do that.

Overall, this was a fun, tongue in cheek book, and if you are a fan of Dungeons and Dragons or want to read a parody of the portal fantasy genre, this book is for you.

[Pop Bop · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Inspired Switcheroo

So, in the usual version of a book like this five normal kids are transported into a role playing game world and have to assume the roles of mage, warrior, thief, and so on in order to fight their way out and get back home. In this book we switch it up. We start with five kids, a wizard, an elf assassin, a warrior, a giant, and a thief, who actually live in a Dungeon and Dragons sort of world and who go on quests all the time. For relaxation they play a role game in which they assume the identities of four "normal" kids and a "Hall Master" in a fantasy based boring middle school. As you have no doubt guessed, the kids get trapped in the middle school fantasy world and have to assume normal identities in order to get out and get home.

This is inspired, but does it work? Yes. Remarkably so. In fact, it works both ways - as a topsy turvy joke on both the Middle School side and on the Dungeons and Dragons side.

In most switcheroo books we get a second level story. Maybe it's a romance, or teen angst, or some family or sibling drama, or a message of some sort. Not here, except in passing. Rather, in this book we just have loads of fun twisting and subverting all of the fantasy tropes and all of the middle school tropes. Each of the heroes is personable, spirited and appealing, and the dialogue is smart and witty. Lots of jokes are sly and knowing, and even the edgier bits are fairly gentle.

Indeed, it seemed to me that this book is almost a primer, or sampler, of more grown up humor for middle graders. No farts or any of that. The banter is witty. There is parody, irony, sarcasm and satire. There is wordplay, buddy humor, and joking. There is a lot of dry and deadpan humor, with slow burns and spit takes. There's some slapstick. There are running jokes. And all of it works on top of a solid foundation built from the switcheroo premise, the appealing characters, and the overall good humor of the enterprise.

So, I was taken by this book from the first pages and enjoyed every bit of it. This was a wonderful find.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One unfortunate thing that’s happened in publishing for children and teens within the last ten years or so is how BORING a lot of the books have been. It seems you cannot publish anything without shoehorning in some self-righteous preachy bullshit about The Cause. There is always a quota for diversity, lest the Woke Mafia hunts you down and ruins your life.

So when I find a book for young readers that is first and foremost fun, I want to shout my joy from the rooftops! That it is an affectionate send-up of Dungeons and Dragons is merely icing on the cake (my husband is a HUGE D&D guy and he got me into it when we were first dating).

The premise isn’t exactly new - it’s reverse D&D. A group of adventurers from a fantasy world find themselves in our world. Your basic fish-out-of-water story. But it’s in the execution that makes it so clever and funny. And even though the story revolves around middle school antics (and I have happily left middle school far behind me), it’s still endearing and charming to see these fantasy characters muddle their way through this predicament that they thought was entirely fictional.

Also, having the barbarian have to fit in as a super-smart nerd was HILARIOUS! All the other adventurers played characters that basically matched their “real world” type, but it is adorable how Thomdurr of the Sky Bear Clan chose to play Doug Schiller, nerdy straight-A genius student. Which makes for some brilliant moments when he has to ace an algebra test and he wants to crush x and see his enemy polynomials driven before him (I’m paraphrasing).

Anyway, this was a great book. You don’t have to be a D&D aficionado to enjoy it. It’s pretty good about giving you the basics of the premise from the start. If you’re looking for something a little different and light-hearted, this is a good one to try out.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this and other book reviews on my blog!

Oh my goodness is this an amazing book! Let me start off by saying that I am a huge Dungeons & Dragons fan. I started playing it when I was around 10 so I’ve got 25 years or so under by belt. And with shows like Stranger Things, D&D has definitely come into mainstream popularity. (yay!)

I think that the author did a fantastic job of making D&D an integral part of the story without making it necessary for the reader to have played the game before. It is rooted in fantasy so I feel like a reader would not need prior D&D knowledge to enjoy this book.

First and foremost I enjoyed this book for the unique twist of a common fantasy type–the portal fantasy. But instead of kids getting pulled into a D&D world filled with orcs and elves, it is the fantasy D&D characters pulled into a real-world middle school. It was just so much fun and I think that the author pulled it off with flying colors.

I also enjoyed how fun the characters were. They truly felt like they were D&D characters pulled right off the page. I loved Thromdurr the barbarian, who was big and strong, but whose big task was to tackle middle school math. And Sorrowshade, the gloom elf assassin and how she was able to blend right in with all the awkwardness of middle school.

The book was action packed. The pace moved quickly and was full of humor. I found myself laughing out loud on multiple occasions. I am very much looking forward to the sequel, which comes out this October, 2020.

Final Verdict:
If you are a fan of D&D, or just fantasy in general, I would definitely recommend Homerooms & Hall Passes.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four hero friends—Thromdurr the barbarian, Devis the thief, Velva the paladin, Sorrowshade the assassin, and Albiorix the wizard—go on adventures every day. It’s easy for them to tire of the excitement, and they can hardly wait until they play Homerooms and Hall Passes each week. In this fun role-playing game, they can pretend they are in a mundane and ordinary middle school. After an encounter with a curse, things go awry, and the mighty adventurers end up in real life. There, the friends must learn how to be regular students and protect this newly discovered world from its own evils.

This creative book is full of adventure and humor. It easily captures readers’ attention with unique and well-developed characters. Albiorix, the central character, is a great example of being a good friend and leader as he learns that being different doesn’t make him of less worth. This book is well thought out, with the fantasy world and the role-playing game all described in detail. Fans of role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons will enjoy this book. However, it is still easy for readers who have never played such games to understand. Intermediate readers looking for an adventure book are sure to find exhilaration in this exceptional, fantastical story.

*Contains mild violence

++Review originally published on Children's Book and Media Review++
http://byucbmr.com/reviews/homerooms-...