What do you think?
Rate this book
Escape from Zobadak
When Uncle Gary mysteriously disappears, all he leaves behind is a mountain of sawdust and a nightstand that his eleven-year-old nephew, Billy, inherits. When Billy is awakened at night by noises from inside the nightstand, he takes a closer look and discovers a hidden panel that opens to an antique maze of wooden corridors. He and his sister Sophie believe that Uncle Gary is hiding somewhere in the nightstand. As Billy, Sophie, and their two friends Chris and Maggie begin to explore the ancient hallways they discover far more than they expect. Billy must make a terrifying let the police handle things the conventional way, or escape to the nightstand and try one last time to find Uncle Gary before it's too late.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 5, 2011
Billy (11) and Sophie (9) love it when their Uncle Gary comes to visit. He is quirky and fun and always has little gifts for them. Their mom likes Uncle Gary fine, it's the sawdust from all the furniture he builds that seems to follow him everywhere that she would prefer not to deal with.
Then one day Uncle Gary disappears, leaving behind a mostly empty home and only a lone night stand in the basement. Odd that someone who worked on furniture all the time yet never sold a thing, would not have a home bursting with wood projects. Billy inherits the nightstand but soon learns there is something different about it. At night noises seem to be coming from inside the nightstand. When taking a closer look, Billy finds a hidden panel that opens into a maze of corridors - big enough for Billy, his sister, and their two friends Chris and Maggie to all climb into and explore the massive hallways of drawers and doors. Billy is certain that Uncle Gary is in there somewhere!
Meanwhile, Billy and Sophie's parents are being harassed by some odd-looking men wearing brown suits and toting business cards from Zobadak Wood Company. They are looking for Gary Frye (Uncle Gary!) stating that a delivery of special wood was sent to him accidentally and they need it back.
Where is Uncle Gary and what did he do with this strange company called Zobadak? A company that no one has ever heard of? Are all the answers somewhere inside the secrets of the nightstand?
From the moment I first spied this book on Shelf Awareness I wanted to read it. The cover, dark and mysterious, the title with attention-getting words like "escape" and "Zobadak".... it made you want to know more about what was inside....
not only the book...
but the nightstand.
Pack a lunch before you dive into Escape From Zobadak because you are not going to want to put this fun middle grade read down. The mystery of Uncle Gary's disappearance, the unusual looking men that keep popping up looking for Gary, and of course the nightstand itself, are enough to keep a middle grade readers nose to the pages.
Shoot, who am I kidding? My nose was to the pages. :razz:
I found this book to be entertaining with elements of 100 Cupboards by N D Wilson and a touch of Harry Potter too. The creativity of the nightstands dwellings was an excellent dose of middle grade fantasy at its best!
My only grumble is that the first 3/4 of the book sailed by with a fast pace story line that kept my hopping and then when it got to the last fourth, it seemed to drag with detail. Part of that was due to a character named Krandall who is supposed to be a little light in the head from being in the nightstand all his life, but at times the rambling was excessive. I am hoping perhaps a middle grade reader will find this part fun.
Escape for Zobadak won the MEMSPA Children's Book Award. It is in fact a good read and in the end leaves an opening and a hint that there will be another book.
Then one day Uncle Gary disappears, leaving behind a mostly empty home and only a lone night stand in the basement. Odd that someone who worked on furniture all the time yet never sold a thing, would not have a home bursting with wood projects. Billy inherits the nightstand but soon learns there is something different about it. At night noises seem to be coming from inside the nightstand. When taking a closer look, Billy finds a hidden panel that opens into a maze of corridors - big enough for Billy, his sister, and their two friends Chris and Maggie to all climb into and explore the massive hallways of drawers and doors. Billy is certain that Uncle Gary is in there somewhere!
Meanwhile, Billy and Sophie's parents are being harassed by some odd-looking men wearing brown suits and toting business cards from Zobadak Wood Company. They are looking for Gary Frye (Uncle Gary!) stating that a delivery of special wood was sent to him accidentally and they need it back.
Where is Uncle Gary and what did he do with this strange company called Zobadak? A company that no one has ever heard of? Are all the answers somewhere inside the secrets of the nightstand?
From the moment I first spied this book on Shelf Awareness I wanted to read it. The cover, dark and mysterious, the title with attention-getting words like "escape" and "Zobadak".... it made you want to know more about what was inside....
not only the book...
but the nightstand.
Pack a lunch before you dive into Escape From Zobadak because you are not going to want to put this fun middle grade read down. The mystery of Uncle Gary's disappearance, the unusual looking men that keep popping up looking for Gary, and of course the nightstand itself, are enough to keep a middle grade readers nose to the pages.
Shoot, who am I kidding? My nose was to the pages. :razz:
I found this book to be entertaining with elements of 100 Cupboards by N D Wilson and a touch of Harry Potter too. The creativity of the nightstands dwellings was an excellent dose of middle grade fantasy at its best!
My only grumble is that the first 3/4 of the book sailed by with a fast pace story line that kept my hopping and then when it got to the last fourth, it seemed to drag with detail. Part of that was due to a character named Krandall who is supposed to be a little light in the head from being in the nightstand all his life, but at times the rambling was excessive. I am hoping perhaps a middle grade reader will find this part fun.
Escape for Zobadak won the MEMSPA Children's Book Award. It is in fact a good read and in the end leaves an opening and a hint that there will be another book.
April 20, 2022
Left me curious to read the sequel but not too curious.
June 27, 2011
When carpenter Uncle Gary disappears, his nephew Billy inherits his nightstand, the one piece of Gary's furniture to be found in his house. Little does the eleven-year-old know, however, that the nightstand is a portal to a strange maze of corridors and rooms, filled with drawers and a random assortment of objects. When mysterious men from the elusive Zobadak wood company show up and threaten Billy's family, he, his little sister Sophie, and their friends Maggie and Chris decide to venture into the nightstand's world to find Uncle Gary and save their parents.
Escape from Zobadak is well-written but slow. All of the events and action are drawn-out, though not quite to the point of being boring. Fortunately, the premise of the book - a hidden world connected not by magic, but by joinery and mathematics - keeps the story unique and interesting enough to hold readers' attention. Still, I found that one of the most engaging parts of the book came at the end, where a sequel is blatantly set up. Did I like the first book enough to read the sequel? I suppose. While the plot premise is unique, the story/writing combination reminded me of two books (that I highly enjoyed reading): Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne and the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. As with these, this book is best for young fantasy fans who are mature enough to not get distracted from the book when the plot gets slow.
I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. My review was originally posted on LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/work/1118...
Escape from Zobadak is well-written but slow. All of the events and action are drawn-out, though not quite to the point of being boring. Fortunately, the premise of the book - a hidden world connected not by magic, but by joinery and mathematics - keeps the story unique and interesting enough to hold readers' attention. Still, I found that one of the most engaging parts of the book came at the end, where a sequel is blatantly set up. Did I like the first book enough to read the sequel? I suppose. While the plot premise is unique, the story/writing combination reminded me of two books (that I highly enjoyed reading): Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne and the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. As with these, this book is best for young fantasy fans who are mature enough to not get distracted from the book when the plot gets slow.
I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. My review was originally posted on LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/work/1118...
September 5, 2015
I absolutely love the cover of this book. The silhouettes of the children with the light coming from their flashlight under the moonlight. This book came out in stores on July 1, 2011. I received this book in the mail about a week before it came out, so I knew I wasn't going to finish it in time, but hey I say, "Better late than never, right?" LOL! Anyways, this was a delightful book to read. The book was only 332 pages long. The characters are very likeable. Billy and Sophie were great "detectives" in looking for their Uncle. I was a little intimidated by the number of chapters (60) but once I started to see the chapters were all short chapters, I was perfectly fine. I enjoyed reading about the explorations of Billy, Sophie, Chris, and Maggie in the Bigy Bigy Buglu drawer when they were in search of Billy and Sophie's Uncle Gary. I really enjoyed reading about their adventures, their hiding of the nightstand, their escape from the Zobadak woodmen. I look forward to seeing if this will become a series from the author or not. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good read, with imagination, and adventure.
July 10, 2011
I couldn't tell if this is supposed to lead to a sequel(or start a series) because too much remained unexplained by the end. The book starts well, with Uncle Gary's disappearance and Billy and Sophie starting to piece together some of the odd clues that lead them not into a wardrobe but into a nightstand.
It's the world inside the nightstand and its links to the outside world that need work. For example, the gift boxes Uncle Gary gives the children have odd numbers on them, yet only one is pertinent to the story: will the others lead elsewhere? Do the toys have meaning? And the endless descriptions of this wooden world could have been edited down to make way for more character integration. It was as though the author was so excited about this world that the action and people became an afterthought.
Copy provided by publisher.
It's the world inside the nightstand and its links to the outside world that need work. For example, the gift boxes Uncle Gary gives the children have odd numbers on them, yet only one is pertinent to the story: will the others lead elsewhere? Do the toys have meaning? And the endless descriptions of this wooden world could have been edited down to make way for more character integration. It was as though the author was so excited about this world that the action and people became an afterthought.
Copy provided by publisher.
December 29, 2011
This is a kind of silly but fun young adult adventure/mystery book. It is actually quite creativew in its setting of a world of wood that becomes people who have kidnapped Billy and Sophie's uncle into the land of Zobadak. They are after a special piece of furniture that is an entrance to their world. When the woodmen kidnap Billy and Sophie's parents, Billy and Sophie, along with their friends Chris and Maggie, venture into Zobadak to save them. There is a lot of humor and some suspense as their adventure unfolds. There is a great foundation of friendship in the story as the four kids stick together and take care of each other. It is also a good reminder that adults need to listen to kids more and take them seriously.
November 26, 2011
A new author of children's books first book. Strange things happen in the novel of fantasy dealing with wood working. Wood working is an unusual topic for fantasy. This is the first book in a series. I think this is a good start for the author, but the book is slow in places and obscure in other parts.
June 15, 2013
Great book. Interesting story, engagingly told and freshly written. The children and I were hooked from the start, and we all found it both compelling and entertaining. Looks ripe for a sequel, and we'll be eager to pick that up whenever it may appear. Recommended reading.
September 4, 2011
An excellent mystery for the 10 & up crowd! Suspenseful, unique, intriguing...a page turner!
November 20, 2013
This is now one of my favorite book !! I love this book ! It is so adventures and its very addicting ! Once i picked up this book and started reading it, I couldn't put it down!
February 19, 2016
It was very interesting, where did Uncle Gary go, and what is the place?
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews