THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF
ALFRED KROPP by Rick Yancey

Just what can an overgrown, underachieving teenager do to save the world from imminent destruction? A lot more than you would think, especially if his name happens to be Alfred Kropp. With his huge head, tree trunk-like body and uncanny ability to screw up at nearly everything he undertakes, Alfred is both the world's first accidental superhero and the last person you'd rely on in a time of need.

After all, even his rare successes turn out to be failures, as he learns when he reluctantly signs on to help his uncle in a dodgy get-rich-quick scheme to retrieve a stolen sword. In a mistake of enormous proportions that may well prove to be his last, Alfred unwittingly "succeeds" at stealing Excalibur --- the legendary sword of King Arthur --- and placing it into the hands of an enemy with deadly intentions.

But this mysterious agent of darkness gets much more than he bargained for when Alfred's underachieving status undergoes a supersized overhaul as he embarks on a quest to return the sword to its rightful owner. No one is more surprised by the turn of events than Alfred, who finds himself catapulted into a mysterious world of Ferrari-driving, dagger-wielding modern-day knights charged with saving the world by upholding an ancient oath. As he lumbers alongside them in a breathtaking international battle of good against evil, light against dark, and right against wrong, Alfred finds that there's more to being average than meets the eye, and that a hero lies in even the most ordinary of hearts.

You won't want to miss a minute of Alfred's spellbinding, action-packed escapades as they unfold in THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ALFRED KROPP. In this feature, you'll learn more about his extraordinary world and the unusual people in it, as well as meet the mastermind who created Alfred and take a fun quiz to brush up on your knowledge of Arthurian legend!

   ---Reviewed by Joni Rendon

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