Children's Fantasy Review

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
by Obert Skye
ISBN-10: 1416928065
Review by Heather Froeschl
Have you ever felt as if you were meant to be doing something spectacular? Something more important than playing dodgeball in gym class? Leven Thumps never felt that way, but he should have because he was destined to do something so important that it would ensure that all of us would still be able to dream. Imagine that! A boy who could protect every dream in the world of Reality! But first, he has to realize who he is. In “Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo,” by Obert Skye, Leven will meet Winter, Geth, Clover, and himself, and be introduced to the most magical place ever.

His real mother died when he was born, and so Leven was raised by his aunt and her very lazy boyfriend. Those two never had a kind word for Leven and it was one particularly scary night on the back screened in porch (Leven’s bedroom) when the shadows were trying very hard to penetrate the screen and get at him, that Leven came to meet his sycophant, Clover. Clover had always been around, invisible, and Leven had never known it until now. The little creature is just the first of many Leven will encounter and an introduction to the imaginative world of Foo. Leven is soon met up with Winter, a girl who can freeze things with her thoughts (did I mention that Leven can make lightning strike wherever he wants?), and Geth, the altered physical being that is the exiled but rightful ruler of Foo. It is this team’s mission to make it to the gateway of Foo and to destroy it so that the evil Sabine and his dark shadows cannot escape into reality to wipe out the hope of the world.

Throughout the book readers learn of the wonders of Foo and how our dreams would not exist without it. We get to know Leven as he comes to know himself and are introduced to the wonderful characters of Winter, Geth and Clover. I can’t begin to describe them all, but suffice it to say that you have never met anyone like them. Will Leven make it to the gateway in time? Will the group even be able to find it? There are those who wish to stop them and even Leven isn’t sure about his purpose.

This wonderful book is an absolute joy. Young readers will connect with the characters and root for the cause while adults will delight in a positive reminder to believe in the magical and trust in fate. Obert Skye has written a fantastic tale that will have readers of all ages clamoring for more. His fluid style and direct narrative are so engaging as to draw in even the reluctant reader. “Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo,” is the beginning of a journey you will not want to end. Luckily for you, the adventure continues in “Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret.”