Twelve-year-old Mack McAvoy is not particularly outstanding. He is not a great student, he's glib and sarcastic, he has a list of phobias as long as your arm, and he's far from popular. In fact, he's more of a bully magnet. That is, until Mack is visited by a golem. The golem looks exactly like Mack, except the golem likes to sleep on the ceiling. And he's got some bad news: he has been sent to fill in for the real Mack in Sedona, Arizona, while the real Mack sets out to save the world from the evil Pale Queen. To do so, Mack must assemble an elite team of twelve powerful children from all around the world, including Jarrah from Australia and Stefan from Mack's very own hometown-Stefan, who used to use Mack as a punching bag. Together the three of them must travel to Australia's Uluru desert to face off against Risky. Risky is a beautiful redhead girl who is just a tween herself, but don't let her age fool you: Risky is pure evil. She gets it from her mother. Who is her mother exactly? None other than the Pale Queen, who has been a force of evil to be reckoned with since before medieval times. Mack's story is interspersed with that of Grimluk, a pre-medieval teen who is enlisted into the Magnifica, a team assembled during his time to battle the Pale Queen and her henchmen. The Magnifica triumphed over the Pale Queen in Grimluk's time, and Mack, Jarrah, and Stefan triumph over Risky in their time - or so they think... Packed with action and infused with humor and magic, The Magnificent 12: The Call ends with a delicious cliffhanger that will have readers craving the next book.
