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"The Last Guardian and the Reject Bike" by author Darren Simon is meant to be a fun, humorous, touching, and exciting story for young readers that imparts a message that every kid can be a hero. The story follows a thirteen-year-old boy, Chuck Smelton, who longs to be hero, but the image he sees staring back at him in the mirror causes him to believe the term loser is more befitting his place in life. He is struggling to fit in at his new school, the bullies call him "Chub" because he is rather pudgy, he can't hit a baseball to save his life, and his fear of the dark has him still dependent on a nightlight.
Then one day he receives a gift of the ugliest-hunk-of-junk bike he has ever seen, and little does he know his life is about to change. Little does he know that bike, which is much more than it seems will be the key to unlocking the hero within himself. Can Chuck become the hero he must become to save his family, his city, and the world from an evil only he can defeat?
The Last Guardian and the Reject Bike: The Gateway Chronicles Book One
Darren Simon
iUniverse (2009)
ISBN 9781440155857
Reviewed by Ben Weldon (age 12) for Reader Views (06/10)
“The Last Guardian and the Reject Bike” by Darren Simon is the story of thirteen-year-old Chuck who is trying to understand why his dad moved them from the peaceful countryside to the horrible, bustling big city. One day when Chuck’s dad got back from work, he brought Chuck the ugliest bike you could possibly imagine. Chuck hated it with all his heart and tried to “lose” it and ditch it in a dark alley. But whenever he touched it, it felt like lightning was shooting up his arm. Then one day, it showed up at his school and after that, strange things started happening. Little does he know that his life is about to turn up side down.
Until the bike showed up, Chuck was rather nerdy and couldn’t hit a baseball to save his life. He didn’t have a single friend and everyone made fun of him. But then the bike showed up and Chuck’s world was turned upside down. Suddenly he was the Last Guardian, and he had to save the world from a great evil by finding a dark medallion and using it to defeat the evil sorceress. But can Chuck find the medallion and defeat the evil before it is too late and it rules the world?
Soon after Chuck got the bike, he started dreaming about a lady and an ugly giant who was trying to kill her. Soon thereafter, he learned that he was the Last Guardian and because of this he had the power to open inter-dimensional portals to a magical world. In one of his dreams, the lady tricked him into opening a portal for her and traveled through to his world. As it turned out, the lady was none other than the evil sorceress Theodora who was trying to find a medallion that was stolen from her by the previous Guardian and hidden in Chuck’s world. Can Chuck find the medallion and use the hidden power of the bike to defeat Theodora?
One night Chuck heard noises in the garage where the bike was. He went to find out what was making the noise and found the bike clanking around. Chuck got on the bike and the bike shot out of the garage like it was shot from a cannon. It enhanced Chuck’s vision and strength greatly. But will these powers of the bike be able to help Chuck defeat Theodora?
I would recommend “The Last Guardian and the Reject Bike” to people who like action and fantasy. This is the first book in a series called “The Last Guardian.” This was Darren Simon’s first novel, and I sure hope to see more books by him.
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