Even as an adult, it's easy to slip into the joy and suspense of a mystical adventure involving kids. Great real world subplots mesh pretty well with the magical side of things. I think character development went pretty well too (spoiler alert). It's one of the most prominent deeper points I noticed about the story.Trevor and Summer didn't change much, as they didn't need to, but Pigeon and Nate got the lion's share of development I think. Pigeon, initially overcautious and subdued (likely mostly because of his overprotective mother), became brave and daring and a big asset towards solving the main problems in the story.Nate started off as kind of a jerk with a loser attitude (he refers to Pigeon way too quickly as a wuss after knowing the kid for like five minutes, he always has to grumble when Pigeon says something intelligent, he teases Pigeon too much about being friendly with their teacher, he gets bent out of shape and uptight at Summer's willingness to demonstrate the initiation challenge and takes a very sexist viewpoint toward it...come on, he may be ten, but that's no excuse). He kind of starts the story as an unlikable, almost mini-bully himself, or someone showing the signs of becoming one later, thinking certain people don't fit in or are lesser for stupid reasons. However, he changes these attitudes over the course of the story as the narrative heats up, and his friendships become close as he strives to help everyone. Basically, the story forces the kids to grow up really quickly as they face life and death situations, and overcome their initial flaws.As the second book alludes to a potential third installment, I'm eagerly awaiting that.