Heather’s Bookshelf: Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex
Author: Carole P. Roman
Released: 07/18/22
Genre: YA Action/Adventure Fantasy
“Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex” takes place at Templeton Academy—a brand new superhero high school and introduces a middle school kid named Grady Whill. Grady’s an orphan, living with his uncle and trying to make the most out of his young life while also contributing to the household.
His best friend Aarush is intelligent and genuine. He’s also on the autism spectrum and has difficulty communicating and interacting with others. When a new school opens up, Aarush wants to apply to get in and he wants Grady to go with him. He doesn’t think he has a shot and doesn’t bother applying, but Aarush has other plans.
Grady gets selected to attend, much to his surprise and delight, but to the chagrin of his uncle who strongly opposes his attendance. Eventually, his uncle agrees and the duo set out to see what Templeton Academy is all about. They encounter a bunch of new friends and a couple of not-so-friendly acquaintances who all work their way through school …until shenanigans occur.
Trigger Warning: violence
Overall, I enjoyed this story. The concept is not exactly novel- a bunch of kids go to a school for the gifted with a supernatural flair. But just because something isn’t 100% new, doesn’t make it a bad idea! Grady is an entertaining and relatable protagonist. His friendship with Aarush is endearing and meaningful to both the story and the character’s development. I wonder if these kids would refer to Aarush being on the autism spectrum or if they would use neurodivergent and similar terminology to describe him. I also found some of the dialogue to be a little grown for their age and probably the target audience. However, I felt that this was a good intro story for a tale that may make for an even better series. I especially liked some of the magical applications, which I thought were interesting and creative. The story had great pacing and while most of it took place in or on the way to school, the ending opened up options for much more. The ending also answered some of the Grady family secrets while leaving enough mystery to be developed in future stories.
I checked out this story on Audible and found the story easy to follow but the narrator a little too frenetic to match the tone of the story.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
An intro story about magic, friendship, and family secrets.
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out my interview with Carole P. Roman
Interested in checking out the book for yourself?
Find it for purchase here, Kindle Unlimited, or Audible
Interested in submitting your book for review? Visit my review page for guidelines and submission requirements.
