The Emerald Tablet by P.J. Hoover

Benjamin and his best friend Andy love being different from the other kids. They like being able to read each others minds and use their telekinesis to play tricks. In fact, they are getting set to spend their entire summer doing just that when Benjamin s mirror starts talking. Suddenly, he s looking at eight weeks of summer school someplace that can only be reached by a teleporter hidden in his hallway. And the summer only gets stranger.

At school, Benjamin discovers that he isn t really human but something called a telegen. It turns out that the powers he always thought made him special only make him normal. But then the mysterious Emerald Tablet chooses him as its champion, and all chances of a uneventful (well, as uneventful as summer school on a hidden, submerged continent can be) disappears.

-Summary from Amazon.com

I don't usually give bad reviews, but for The Emerald Tablet the only good thing that I could find about it was the idea of the story. The plot was good, but everything else seemed like a bad imitation of Harry Potter. And okay, I have to give props to the author for all the research she must have done in order to write this book.

Starting with the characters. I found that the main character Benjamin resembles Harry and his allies resemble other characters in Harry Potter. Andy=Ron, Heidi=Ginny, and Hermione seemed to be split into the two characters of Iva and Gary. The adult characters act as if they are the professors of Hogwarts. They speak as if they are all-wise when half of the things that they say don't even make much sense.

The style of writing that P.J. Hoover (talk about resembling Harry Potter, even the author's name is abbreviated like J.K. Rowling's) has is of a very childlike nature. I realize that it's a children's book, but even I can write better than she does (in style, not plot). Which makes me wonder how she ever became a published author. Surely it can't be based solely on plot.

All in all, I would give this book a 5 out of 10. The style of writing just took away from the story itself. If I had to recommend a book, I would probably recommend Harry Potter over The Emerald Tablet.