Baumed by Chris Kassel

Whimsical, wildly creative, and laced with contemporary wisdom, Baumed by Chris Kassel is an innovative addition to Oz-inspired lore.

Dorothy awakes from her legendary time away, which her guardians suspiciously deny, saying she had been in a brief comatose state. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry insist that she never left the house, let alone Kansas, but Dorothy’s unforgettable adventure was surely more than a dream…right? Undaunted by skepticism, Dorothy employs her Emerald City lessons to expose the manipulative men and women behind the curtain in her very real world, where the consequences for her community are as dire as anything she faced on the other side of the rainbow.

Despite the classic tone of the prose, the themes Dorothy organically explores feel modern and stark, particularly the anti-capitalistic stirrings from that era that echo so clearly today. Fleshing out Garland’s two-dimensional ingenue into a brilliant narrator and compelling critical thinker, Kassel does Baum credit with this darker expansion of a beloved protagonist, for a spirited and surprisingly thought-provoking sequel.

With storytelling easter eggs, lyrical decadence, and meaningful nods to the predecessor, this is a gripping plunge into a familiar world for a new generation of readers, as well as avid fans of the Oz universe.

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