Spark and the League of Ursus

By: Robert Repino

Narrated by: Samara Naeymi

Toy Story meets Stranger Things in this epic tale of warrior teddy bears and the children they protect.

Spark is not your average teddy bear. She's soft and cuddly, sure, but she's also a fierce warrior. At night she fulfills her sacred duty: to protect the household from monsters. But Spark's owner Loretta is growing up and thinks she doesn't need her old teddy anymore.

When a monster unlike any other descends on the quiet home, everything changes. Children are going missing, and the monster wants Loretta next. Only Spark can stop it. She must call upon the ancient League of Ursus - a secret alliance of teddy bears who are pledged to protect their human friends. Together with an Amazon-princess doll and a timid sock monkey, the bears are all that stands between our world and the one that lies beneath. It will be a heroic chapter in the history of the League...if the bears live to tell the tale.

©2020 Robert Repino (P)2020 Recorded Books

Charming and fun, at any age

I found my way here after listening to Mort(e) and its sequels. Based on the description, each series could have been silly and lighthearted; or serious, gritty, and violent. Mort(e) was the latter, in a good way, while Spark and the League of Ursus is the former, also in a good way.

I'm not sure who the author envisioned as an audience in terms of age, but I think the story works for kids and adults alike, in the tradition of films like Shrek and some Pixar offerings. It's G-rated and kids can follow and enjoy it. Adults will find it charming, and critical readers will appreciate an exceptionally tight, well-paced story. Teenagers will pretend they think it's stupid. Privately they'll revel in the nostalgia of childhood memories just beginning to fade.

Samara Naeymi's narration was perfect. Hats off.