“Then he turned to me all cool-like. He smiled and tipped his dark glasses down. And I about needed a change of pants. Mr Big, Dark, and Scary had no eyes.” - Sam Subity.
Welcome, Vikings, to Day 1 of our read-along for The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity! Grab your axes and swords as we follow Abby on an adventure of mythical proportions.
Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 1 - 10 of The Last Shadow Warrior, so make sure you read these chapters before continuing.
Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates will be entered to win a free OwlCrate Jr box! **Winners for 'The Last Shadow Warrior' read-along have been contacted! Thank you all so much for participating!**
Abby Beckett is no stranger to secrets. She is, afterall, a Viking living in modern day America, and her mother was one of the Aesir—an elite warrior tasked to hunt the monsters known as Grendels—before she died. Abby is desperate for her special abilities to present themselves, which would mark her as an Aesir as well, but now that she’s twelve, Abby is sure that time has now passed. When a Grendel attacks Abby in her own home, her father wastes no time packing their lives up and heading to Vale Hall, an academy way up in the northern tundra of Minnesota.
That was the plan at least, until a motorcycle-riding giant tried to run them off the road. Thankfully, they make it to the prestigious academy that the Grey Council arranged for them to shelter at. Unfortunately, Abby’s father isn’t so lucky. In the race to get to Vale Hall grounds, Abby’s father is injured and left in a coma. Though Abby doesn’t want to leave him, the doctors and nurses assure her that they’re giving her father their best possible care.
On Abby’s first day at the academy, Abby meets the friendly Grimsby, her assigned tour guide, and Gwynn—unicorn backpack enthusiast and the same mysterious girl that met Abby and her father upon their dramatic entrance. Abby also meets Dr. “Doc” Ruel, Vale Hall’s world history teacher and who gives Abby a shiny black card, cryptically telling Abby that it’s “the key to everything.”
Following a narrowly-avoided disastrous encounter with the nasty science teacher Mr. Wendel, Abby and Grimsby are wandering the hallway of past headmasters when they piece together a clue Doc had shared about the black card, leading to their discovery of a hidden elevator behind one of the portraits. Riding the elevator down to level G39 (as stenciled on Abby’s card), they’re greeted by Gwynn in all her Valkyrie-winged glory (surprise!), welcoming them to Asgard—a massive underground Viking city, secretly located below Vale Hall.
Questions:
1. When the Grendel shows up at Abby’s house, it appears to leave behind a small Viking ship windup toy that Abby hasn’t seen in years. Why do you think the Grendel had Abby’s toy and what might this mean?
2. Abby has been training to be an Aesir her whole life. If you were a Viking, what weapon would you want to train with and why?
3. Although Grimsby is not a Viking like Abby and her family, Doc tells Abby, “...your friend Mr. Grimsby may serve as an excellent fellow seeker” (pg. 67). Why do you think Doc told Abby to bring Grimsby along to find Asgard?
See you again on Wednesday as we discuss Chapters 11 - 18.
Take care and watch out for Grendels!
Pick up your May "Sagas & Swords" box and your signed exclusive copy of The Last Shadow Warrior in the OwlCrate Jr Shop!
Cover photo from @thedocreadstoomuch.
