Escaping Ordinary

Written by Scott Reintgen

Narrated by Nancy Wu

In this action-packed sequel to Saving Fable perfect for readers of The Land of Stories and The Phantom Tollbooth, Indira finds herself thrown into a quest full of dragons, unlikely allies, and high stakes.

It's been a year since Indira rescued the city of Fable and landed a starring role in a story of her own. Now Indira's ready for a well-earned vacation.

Too bad her advisors have other plans. In preparation for her story's sequel, Indira has been enrolled in the Hero's Journey tutorial, a quest designed to teach her how to be a team player. Indira's assigned crew is a mix of familiar faces and new friends, each hoping to follow in her footsteps into a story.

Indira is ready for this new challenge--until someone crashes their quest. The intruder is more powerful than anyone she's faced before and begins transforming Ordinary into a giant video game. Indira's team will have to level up and outplay their opponent, or else the world's most beloved stories might be lost forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780593285763

Scott Reintgen

Scott Reintgen is a former public school teacher from North Carolina. When he’s not writing, he uses his imagination to entertain his wife, Katie, and their three children. Scott is the New York Times bestselling author of the Waxways series, the Nyxia trilogy, the Dragonships series, and the Celia Cleary series for younger readers. You can find him on Instagram @Reintgen, on X @Scott_Thought, or on his website at ItsPronouncedRankin.com.

Reviews for Escaping Ordinary

[kiaya40 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thanks so much to Random House Children's Books and NetGalley for letting me have the chance to read, review and bask in the delightfulness of this story. Scott Reintgen has fast become one of my favorite authors with all his amazing books and I love this story!
I enjoyed and loved the previous book about Indira and her friends in Saving Fable so I was SO excited when I saw this sequel show up. This didn't disappoint, it was another great story in the land of Fable with Indira and her friends on another new adventure where we meet and get to know new characters as well as becoming more acquainted with some of the previous characters.
I love that Phoenix was back with Indira along with her brother, Dave, and others. It was a great transition, next chapter, next story in the adventures of Indira and friends in Fable. It talked about the plot method of The Hero's Journey in this one, which this is another thing I adore about these books is that Scott is using this method of storytelling to help teach about writing, characters, plots, backstories and different plot methods like The Hero's Journey so this book is great for everyone, children and adults alike. I love that this helps kids learn these things about writing and it can also be helpful to others who are learning about writing too.
Also while it's helping educate about writing and these things, it's wildly entertaining. The land of Fable, the story, and the characters are so easy to fall in love with and to become invested in these characters and stories with all that goes on too. I want to go meet Indira and visit the land of Fable myself because it sounds so amazing.
So, in this sequel to Saving Fable, it's the next year after Indira had to save Fable and was the lead character in a story of her own so now she's hoping and thinking that she'll get to have a break and go on a vacation. Of course, as one can guess, she doesn't get that break she was hoping for and is instead assigned to go through the tutorial for The Hero's Journey to prepare her for her story's sequel. One of the main things she's meant to focus on and learn during this tutorial is how to be a team player and she is joined by some previously known characters and also new ones as mentioned above.
This time around as she and her group of friends are going through the tutorial for The Hero's Journey, things begin to go wrong and they have to figure out what to do and how to fix it. In the town of Ordinary, where they are going through the tutorial, they find that there's an intruder who's taking over and trying to change the town into a giant video game. Indira and her friends have to figure out how to outplay and outsmart the intruder to protect the town of Ordinary and the land of Fable and they have to learn how to work together to do it so they don't lose any of the beloved stories or characters.
It's an exciting adventure full of great storytelling, learning experiences, and examples of how to work together as a team, learn about writing, stories, and everything else. It was another hit for me and I can't wait and hope to read more of Indira and her friends.
If you haven't read these, I would recommend starting with Saving Fable then reading this one, but it is possible to read this without having read the other. I just think it's that much better if you read Saving Fable first because why would you want to miss out on Indira, her friends, and the beginning. I hope you make sure to keep track of this, preorder it and get ready to read and enjoy one of the best books!