People know things for no reason. The characters don't really do things -- they just have things done to them. The plot keeps happening without meaningful justification. The path the main characters' quest must take were set up by people who made senseless decisions (from an in-character perspective) just because of the fact they had to make those decisions for this plot to exist. The pacing is indescribably bad. People accept things they're told without any thought or good reason to accept it just because they have to accept it for the plot to move forward. Everyone in this story is a stereotype or a juvenile power fantasy.

The art is actually pretty good at times, but it's inconsistent, and sometimes pretty half-assed. In fact, the art is actually more disappointing because of the fact it is obvious the art could have been better if the creators were more willing to throw away the occasional bad result and try again. The worst thing about the good art in it, though, is the fact it illustrates such an awful story.

It's best avoided in favor of something better written. ( )

Reading this with my 6 year old. She loves the pictures, relates to the skaters, and is able to follow the storyline. I think the art is passable and the story simplistic, but it's still enjoyable.

edit: Just as I closed this out I glanced up at the cover and thought, 'who's that guy on the front?' There is no such character. There is a blond guy (Jim), a black hair girl (Naomi), a red headed girl (Mel), and what appeared to be an african american guy who is the spirit of the silver tiger (Doug). There is no brunet boy. I point this out because I think it's great that there is a minority in the book. It's even great that he got the first quest of the series, but was the publisher afraid to put him on the cover? Just food for thought. ( )