• Mighty Jack and the Goblin King
• written and illustrated by Ben Hatke
• published by First Second Books (2017)
• Roar Score: 5/5

Ben Hatke is something of a celebrity at Roarbots HQ. His Zita the Spacegirl trilogy is pure magic, and his other books (Little Robot, Julia’s House for Lost Creatures, and Nobody Likes a Goblin) are just downright enchanting.

We look forward to each new book as a major event, and the arrival of Mighty Jack and the Goblin King (the sequel to the phenomenally awesome Mighty Jack for First Second Books) set off all kinds of squee alarms around here.

If you’re familiar with our Questions from a Kid series of interviews and you haven’t seen Ben’s installment, you really should do yourself a favor and go check that out. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Mighty Jack was a fantastic book that created a brand-new world for Ben (and the rest of us) to play in. (Check out our review here.) The story is a unique twist on a familiar tale, with all the right updates to help kids in 2017 relate. Plus, it’s just a really fun fantasy adventure story.

It also ended on a killer cliffhanger than left us panting for more. Thankfully, Ben has followed up on the promise of the first book, expanded on what made it great, and has given us something that is so much more than the sum of its parts. (And don’t even get me started on surprise, twisty endings. For fans of Ben’s work, Mighty Jack and the Goblin King will plaster a smile on your face that’ll stick around for a week.)

But enough of me rambling. For this review, we thought we’d do something a little different. Here’s Zoey to report on the book and her thoughts.