Ring of Solomon, (Hardcover)

Zach and his little sister Naomi spot an antique Jewish ring at a flea market and decide to buy it for their mother's birthday. They accidentally discover that the ring has magical powers and Zach ends up conjuring "Ash", Ashmedai, the King of Demons. An evil secret society gets their hands on the ring and awakens three monsters from Jewish mythology, with the intent to bring about the apocalypse. Ash, Zach and his friends must defeat the monsters and the secret society to save the world. I appreciated that Zach was gay and Jewish. This representation is rare in middle grade fantasy. The story addressed antisemitic bullying and the prejudice faced by Zach's friend Sandra, whose family was from Ecuador. The Ring of Solomon was fast paced, engaging, full of humor and adventure and will appeal to upper elementary and middle school kids. It's a fun read for adults too. Ideally it would have been 50-100 pages longer to further develop the characters and story. I wanted more! Looking forward to a sequel.