Once Upon a Tim by Stuart Gibbs

The Hook: 

Tim hates being a peasant in the Middle Ages. So, he and his best friend, Belinda, pretend to be knights and sign-up for a dangerous mission with Prince Ruprecht and his powerful magician, Nerlim.  

They will travel through the Forest of Doom, then down the River of Doom and across the Chasm of Doom--Lots of Doom on this trip—to save Princess Grace who has been captured by the dreaded and majorly stinky dragon, Stinx.  

However, all is not what it seems. They should have guessed it when they were the only “knights” to sign up. In fact, the only other person to accompany the prince and his wizard with them was the village idiot, Ferkle. Turns out the prince is quite cowardly, and his wizard is a fake. Everyone else must have known. Can these 5 misfits save the princess? You will have to read the book to find out. 

This book is in our library. It is also in Sora and Axis 360 as an eBook and an audio book. It is 3 AR points. 

My Thoughts and Recommendations (Careful! There Could Be Spoilers): 

This is a fun book that middle schoolers will love, especially Reluctant Readers in that it is only 155 pages with lots of illustrations to support the story. The prince may be cowardly, and his magician may be a fake, but both are quite dastardly. Their plan is to allow Tim and Belinda to lead the way across the dangerous land, but once they get to the princess, they will seize her, leave Tim and Belinda behind, and claim all the glory and fame for themselves.  

But once they arrive, they realize the princess is not some damsel and distress and the Stinx is not as wicked as they had thought. Even Ferkel, the village idiot, turns out to be a surprise. This is what makes the story so fun—there are lots of twists and turns! 

I recommend this for students in 4th-6th grade. 4.3 stars.