Grim Tuesday (The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 2)

#133
Title: Grim Tuesday (The Keys to the Kingdom, Book 2)
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 2004
Genre: children's/young adult, fantasy & science fiction
336 pages 

I so like Garth Nix. He creates genuinely interesting worlds and dilemmas and his characters, even when sparingly drawn, variously evoke empathy, interest, fear, admiration, and other emotions. This second installment begins as poor Arthur, exhausted by his Monday encounters, is quickly drawn back into a conflict with (and on) Tuesday. Perhaps the best way to read the series would be one a day for a week, in order that the reader identify even more closely with Arthur's desperation for a little down time. With this second book, the terms of the overall story arc seem to be established, so the reader can focus instead on the quality of Arthur's character. As in the Seventh Tower series, the young male protagonist gropes to understand a strange new world and his significant role in it. Arthur is much less churlish and more open to new experiences than is that series's protagonist Tal; it remains to be seen whether this renders him ultimately less interesting.