WHICH WAY TO ANYWHERE

Stepsiblings run into world-hopping, magical trouble in this series opener from How To Train Your Dragon author Cowell.

After an in medias res opening teasing dangers about an alien world, the narration flashes back to where it began for two sets of siblings in a blended family. K2 and Izzabird O’Hero only agree with Theo and Mabel Smith, their stepsiblings, on two things—their love for shared half sibling, baby Annipeck and their wish to unblend their blended family. Theo’s convinced the O’Heros are witches; Izzabird wishes her relatives would hurry up and teach her their secret Magic. But secrecy is thrown out the window by the arrival of an Otherworlder in the family washing machine—bounty hunter Horizabel Delft. There’s also a robot assassin and a dastardly pirate. They’re searching for a child with the gift of making Alternative Atlases that show passages between worlds. The child in question? The least stereotypically heroic O’Hero, cautious bully-magnet K2, who has dyslexia and amblyopia. To protect their family, the kids end up venturing to a human-hating world where they must make amends for the O’Heros’ mixed legacies and learn what it means to be a family. Cowell throws all sorts of fantastical obstacles in the kids’ ways, using action to add tension to the humorous narration that is enhanced by her frequent illustrations. The Smiths are depicted with dark skin and curly hair, and the O’Hero children are pale and freckled.

Wild worldbuilding and the colorful cast will delight.