Katie Frost and her college friends are older than Harry Potter and his lot, though both characters deal with magic in one form or another. But a university education in Katie's world offers four different career paths, laid out in four different colleges: Derring-Do University for heroes, the College of Villainy, the Sidekick and Henchmen Institute, and Damsel Academy. Needless to say, Katie definitely isn't a damsel in distress. She has wanted to be a hero just like her mother who was killed when Katie was very young.

As soon as Katie sets foot at Derring-Do University, her life is suddenly threatened by her mother's killer. And if that weren't enough, she has to find The Book of All Things and learn how to use it.

The adventures are fresh and fun and really kept me quickly turning pages. But it was the characters that held my interest. They are wonderful new renderings of fantasy mainstays like zombies, pirates, sorceresses, and swamp witches, who show up in unexpected places. There are also some delightfully new creations as well, such as swamp merrows, transparent slug-like beings that swallow travelers whole.

Since Kevin Munnings has left us all hanging, wondering what will happen next to Katie and her friends, I urge him to speedily hand us the next installment, please. I just can't wait. Katie Frost and the Book of All Things is a delightfully fresh, new magical series.