madeinuk, I had never heard of it either until he brought it home. It's an entertaining story. I was just thrilled that my ds who loved to be read to but had up until that point resisted reading on his own had chosen such a book as his first independently read novel. Bonus was that the author, Jennifer Nielsen, made an appearance near us about a month after he finished it. He was by far the youngest kid present and she was fantastic, taking time to chat with him personally for a while.
There is now a sequel, The Runaway King and a 3rd is expected in the spring.