“He found himself standing next to the flag pole in Town Square, in the heart of the Magic Kingdom.”

From Ridley Pearson’s The Kingdom Keepers.

Thirteen-year-old Finn was selected to work as a hologram guide for guests at the Magic Kingdom as part of the Disney Host Interactive (DHI) program.  While recording his lines and movements, Finn meets the other four kids in the DHI program: Charlene, Willa, Maybeck, and Philby.  The five are friendly to each other, but don’t know much beyond their names and that their everyday lives don’t intersect.  However, one night when Finn falls asleep, he finds himself transported to the Magic Kingdom and it changes his life forever.  Finn meets a mysterious old Imagineer named Wayne in the park who tells him that the Magic Kingdom is in trouble from the Overtakers, a group of animatronics that have come to life through people’s belief and is seeking more power every day.  Wayne tells Finn that the Stonecutter’s Quill is a puzzle that will have to be solved by all five DHI kids to save the park… and themselves.  Unable to tell his best friend, Dillard, Finn has to track down the other DHI kids and find who’s leading the Overtakers before it’s too late.  Using the connections of Amanda, the new girl at school, to track down the other kids things go from odd to unbelievable to deadly as all the villains from the rides and Disney stories push Finn and the others out of fantasy and into reality.  The more the kids cross over to solve the mystery, the more uncertain they become of who they can trust and what’s really happening.

The story is a bit slow to start as Pearson lays the book’s foundation, but it quickly picks up.  Disney fans will love the settings and description that bring the most magical place on earth to life.  Kingdom Keepers is the perfect read for anyone wanting to take an adventure in Disney World without leaving the comfort of home.