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Title | No Humans Allowed!
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Author | Madeleine Roux
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Illustrator | Tim Probert
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Publisher | HarperCollins - 2021
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First Printing | HarperCollins - 2021
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Title | A Goblin Problem!
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Author | Diane Walker
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Illustrator | Tim Probert
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Publisher | HarperCollins - 2022
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First Printing | HarperCollins - 2022
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Title | Tourney of Terror
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Author | Madeleine Roux
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Illustrator | Tim Probert
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Publisher | HarperCollins - 2022
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First Printing | HarperCollins - 2022
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Title | Goreball Scrimmage
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Author | Diane Walker
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Illustrator | Mario Oscar Gabriele
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Publisher | HarperCollins - 2023
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First Printing | HarperCollins - 2023
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Title | Last Best Hope
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Author | Madeleine Roux
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Illustrator | Tim Probert
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Publisher | HarperCollins - 2024
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First Printing | HarperCollins - 2024
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Category | Children
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Zellidora “Zelli” Stormclash, Bauble, Snabla, Hugo, Tavian
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Main Elements | Goblins, Dragons
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Website | ---
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 No Humans Allowed!
From New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux and acclaimed artist Tim Probert comes an all-new original Dungeons & Dragons middle grade series!
Welcome to Dungeon Academy, where monsters and creatures train for the dark world that awaits just beyond the dungeon walls! But Zellidora “Zelli” Stormclash is a bit—different. She’s the one thing monsters and creatures of the Forgotten Realms fear the most: Zelli is a human!
Knowing she’ll never be accepted, Zelli’s parents disguise her as a minotaur in hopes she’ll blend with the academy’s monstrous surroundings. Zelli does her work, keeps to herself, and becomes “invisible” to everyone.
While in History of Horrible Humans class, Zelli learns of the great human adventurer, Allidora Steelstrike, who oddly resembles her. Could Zelli also be a Steelstrike? Seeking answers to her true lineage, Zelli embarks on a dangerous adventure.
But she won’t be alone. A vegan owlbear, a cowardly kobold, and a shapeshifting mimic will join Zelli on her quest for truth in a world that holds no place for them. And who knows? Perhaps these monstrous misfits may discover some truths of their own . . .
Get ready for humor, heart, magic, and adventure as middle graders and beyond learn to embrace who they are, accept others' differences, and discover that making mistakes is OK—as long as you learn from them.
A Goblin Problem!
The Bully Crusher's last stand?
It's hard being the only human at Dungeon Academy, especially when being human is forbidden! That's why Zelli does her work and keeps her head down. When a smaller student named Bucket is teased by some goblin bullies, Zelli steps in to save the day. But will the "Bully Crusher" take on mer than she can handle?
Tourney of Terror
From New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux and acclaimed artist Tim Probert comes the second installment in the original Dungeons & Dragons middle grade series! In the second installment of the Dungeon & Dragons middle grade series, something BIG has come knocking on the gates of Dungeon Academy! The undefeated Waterdeep Dragons have arrived for the Tourney of Terror games, which happens every fifty years and features every monster’s favorite Goreball! The Dungeon Academy Flumphs are outnumbered, outsized, and outmonstered! But our hero, Zelli Stormclash (a forbidden human, secretly disguised as a minotaur), is no stranger to impossible odds. Just a few weeks ago, Zelli and her crew, the Danger Club, came face-to-face with a maniacal necromancer and his army of undead! If this wasn’t enough to raise scales Zelli’s reoccurring nightmare of a dark entity annihilating her world may be more than just a bad dream. Something sinister is lurking in the halls of the academy, and only Zelli seems to notice. But when Zelli uncovers a dark past hidden beneath Dungeon Academy, she unlocks something that will concern everyone at school, every dragon at Waterdeep, and everything within the Forgotten Realms. Get ready for humor, heart, magic, and adventure as middle graders and beyond learn to embrace who they are, accept others' differences, and discover the hidden secrets that dwell deep within themselves, and within Dungeon Academy!
Goreball Scrimmage
Trouble at the Tournament?
When it comes to every monster's favorite game of Goreball, Zelli and the Danger Club are no match against the undefeated Waterdeep Dragons. But an unlikely rival decides to step up and teach the gang to unlock their hidden talents. The Danger Club must trust their coach's advice if they plan to defeating the Waterdeep Dragons. But it won't be easy, especially if their new coach is a dragon!
Last Best Hope
Zelli Stormclash and the Danger Club have only one goal: save their friend Bauble from the evil clutches of Elgred Morbide. There’s only one problem—the evil machinations of Morbide’s selfish plots have come to a head, and the final battle for Dungeon Academy has already begun. Deep beneath the desert, a monstrous dracolich, an evil, undead dragon bent on revenge against everything in her path is about to be unleashed.
Zelli is no longer on a rescue mission but a fated quest to save Dungeon Academy, Faerun, and all the Forgotten Realms. Our motley crew of heroes must rise to the occasion and wield the most important weapon an adventurer can carry: hope. Against impossible odds, the Danger Club—members old and new—must take one last stand together and fight like never before . . . till the very end.
You know, there's a lot of Dungeons & Dragons stuff out there, seems perhaps a revival? My knowledge of D&D is limited to the cartoon from the 80's and a few Dragonlance books. This year, since I've been picking up everything I can find that has faeries/elves/goblins/giants/etc I've been dipping into my toes into Forgotten Realms, and had a brief encounter with Spelljammers (which prompted me to discover that all the worlds are related but don't in fact overlap).
So here I am flipping through some books in the library and the word "goblin" pops up. Next thing I know I've discovered yet another D&D book (I had to add a whole new section to the Library to start keeping track of them). And why should all the books be for adults? I was a kid when I watched the cartoon so kids should definitely get some books too! This series seems to be the answer to that.
Zelli was raised by a pair of Minotaurs, though she herself is human. A human in a world of monsters is hard enough but try going to school where the monsters learn how to fight humans, and guard treasures and all the other things you need a monster to do in a good D&D tale. Its a bit like Monsters Inc. where you learn how your monster under your bed learned to be scary. But not every monster is all that scary and Zelli learned from her mother's to protect the weak. In fact she's develop a bit of a reputation as a Bully Crusher, but a reputation can get you in trouble if you're hoping to avoid being noticed.
Fun illustrations, and in the little chapter book, young readers are encouraged by being told how many words they read at the end of each chapter, thought that was cute.
I made a mistake with my next read though, I picked up Tourney of Terror next which is actually the second book, this one an all out novel for kids older than for A Goblin Problem! and this turned out to be a problem. The author did her best to catch up a reader as to what was going on, but it was really a continuing story from the first novel so many references to events that happened in the first book, but I still enjoyed the read and the library just got the first one on reserve for me.
July
Ah yes, reading the first book was much more fun, I definitely would have liked the second book more if I'd had all the backstory on the necromancer, and Zelli and stuff. Definitely a fun series and I look forward to the next installment. The one thing I don't get, all her friends were able to figure out Zelli was human without being told, sure she spent a bit more time with them than anyone else, but not a single other student figured it out? Teachers seem to know, but that makes sense but if it seemed obvious enough to the...for what its worth...underachievers, how does she get away with it? But a minor quibble.
May 2024
The third book in the series is not out yet, but an early reader chapter book called Goreball Scrimmage was available. Zelli and team need to take on the dragons and beat them at a game of Goreball, no easy task until they really considered their strengths and their opponents weaknesses, and worked together to get the goreball (one nasty spitting multimouthed blob of goo) to their end of the field. Reading this just made me want to read the next book even more.
October 2024
I was the first person who got to read the final book from the library! Coming out in October wasn't bad timing, what with all the undead and monsters running around, including one monsterstrous dragon momma and her brood of risen offspring. I really enjoyed this series and while its not the kind of series that can just keep going and going, I will miss hanging out with this group of unusual characters.
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