Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg.
Title: Zathura.
Author: Chris Van Allsburg.
Artist: Chris Van Allsburg.
Genre: Fiction, YA, children's lit, picture books, fantasy.
Country: U.S.
Language: English.
Publication Date: 2002.
Summary: At the end of Jumanji, young Danny Budwing is seen running home with the game tucked under his arm. At the bottom of the box, they find another game stuck to the box - Zathura! The game has planets and stars, and soon enough Danny and his brother Walter are in for an intergalactic adventure of their lives!
My rating: 7/10
My review:
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♥ "Hey, what's that?" he said. Right next to the boys was a long thin box resting against a tree. Walter got off his brother and picked it up.
"Aw, it's just some dumb old game. Here," he said, poking Danny in the stomach with the box, "it's for babies like you." He trotted off as Danny read the words on the box, JUMANJI, A JUNGLE ADVENTURE. Danny stuck the game under his arm and ran home after his brother.
Back inside, Danny looked at the box. It was covered with pictures of jungle animals. He took out dice, some tokens, and a very plain game board. Walter was right, it was a babyish game and probably boring, too. Danny started to put it away but discovered, jammed tightly into the bottom of the box, another board. He banged the box on the floor, and out it popped.
This board was more interesting. It showed flying saucers, rockets, and planets in outer space, with a path of colored squares leading from Earth to a purple planet called Zathura and back to Earth.
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♥ Danny leaned forward and read: "'The polarity on your gravity belt is reversed.' I wonder what that means?" He looked up, but Walter was gone.
"Walter!" he called out.
"Up here," answered Walter. Danny looked up and saw his brother pressed against the ceiling. "I've lost my gravity."
"That's not all you're going to lose," Danny said nervously, because he could see that Walter was being pulled slowly toward the hole in the ceiling-and a lonely trip into outer space.
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♥ Danny rolled the dice and took his card: "'You pass too close to Tsouris 3, gravity greatly increased.'"
The room began to level out, but something strange was happening to Danny. Walter looked at him. "Holy smoke," he said. Danny was getting shorter, and wider too. Soon he was about the shape and size of a large beach ball.
"Waaalter," he said in a low voice. "I feeeel verrrry heeeavy."
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