  | Beast ballerz (Beast Ballerz) Author: King, Wesley | |
| Price: $22.58 | ||
Summary:
When eleven-year-old Baxter Brooks wakes up one morning with a sweet beard, he's pumped. How many fifth graders get to sport cheek mittens in math class? It's pretty much the greatest day of his life. When Bax gives his whole school a were-scare during a play, he's shuttled off to an academy for misfit monsters and into the zany world of beast ball.
| Illustrator: | Wolfhard, Steve |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (03/15/26)
Booklist (04/01/26)
Full Text Reviews:
Publishers Weekly - 02/23/2026 In this rollicking romp from King (Benny on the Case) and Wolfhard (Stanley Will Probably Be Fine), a series launch, 11-year-old human Baxter "Bax" Brooks awakens one morning to discover that he has grown hair from chin to toe seemingly overnight. After his supportive (if slightly bewildered) parents accept what appears to be his new werewolf identity, Bax is sent to Prodigium Academy, a school for misfit monsters. There, he hopes to continue playing basketball-or beast ball, as the academy’s dean calls it. But the Prodigium Pugs, the only mixed-monster team in the league, holds the worst record of their peers and faces constant interference from the Extremely Inconvenient Phantom, who proves shockingly apologetic about its shoe-stealing antics. Now it’s up to self-described "Bax-squatch" to help his teammates embrace their creaturely differences and turn adversity into victory. Lively dialogue strikes a deft balance of horror and humor while exploring themes of identity, friendship, and resilience, crafting a school story that is as heartening as it is laugh-out-loud. Thin-lined, stylized illustrations showcase an array of monster characters while providing visual gags and energy, appealing to fans of sports, Halloween-y fun, and character-driven adventure. Ages 10-up. (May) - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly used with permission.
Booklist - 04/01/2026 What happens when monsters and basketball collide? Newly minted werewolf Baxter Brooks is about to find out, arriving at Prodigium Academy—the only mixed-species monster school in the world—to play for the school’s beast ball team, the Pugs. With a tournament looming against their archrivals, the Chow Chows, Bax gets the team to work, but distractions from a very polite but meddlesome phantom and a decades-long losing streak have shaken the team’s confidence. Can Bax convince the team that their differences are their secret weapon? And will he embrace his own hairy self to lead his team to victory? With cheeky, clever wordplay, rapid pacing, and intimate first-person narration, King delivers an earnest tale of self-acceptance wrapped in the thrill of a buzzer-beater. Readers will find an empathetic friend in Bax, a boy finding his place in a world of trolls, mummies, vampires, and more. Wolfhard’s line drawings feature a youthful, cartoon style that pairs perfectly with the story. Suit up to join Bax and the Pugs in this first entry in a monstrously fun new series. - Copyright 2026 Booklist.
