Potter-like novel packs an adventurous punch
By CHRIS VOGNAR
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
'Summerland' by Michael Chabon; Talk Miramax Books ($22.95).
Kids books for adults, or mature books for kids? The post-Harry Potter age has brought a slew of fiction that meets the demands of advanced young readers and those parents who haven't left childhood behind.
But nothing outside of Hogwarts has built the buzz of "Summerland," the compulsively readable new novel from Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon. Custom airships, spunky little kids, hungry giants, tiny baseball players, a friendly Sasquatch, wrinkles in time, space and seasons: "Summerland" packs more adventure, at a faster pace, than anything else your child or young teen is likely to pick up.
But it's all set against an impending apocalypse and an embodiment of evil who takes credit for inventing pizza and the national pastime.