Virtual Tour for After Ozz by Bart Baker

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Tour, presented by Pump Up Your Book, for After Ozz by Bart Baker.  Please leave a comment or question for Bart to let him know you stopped by. You can check out the other stops on Bart’s tour by clicking on the tour banner above. 

After Ozz

By Bart Baker

Publisher:  Bart Baker

Release Date:  February 19, 2015

Genre:  YA Fantasy/Political Allegory

Length:  182 Pages

ISBN:  978-1502855343

ASIN:  B00TUFUG0A

BUY LINKS:  AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

About the book:

With her uncle, the President of the United States, presumed dead and her beloved younger brother, Ozz, missing, Dot Gale is whisked into an odyssey in a different, very strange dimension. With the aid of three friends she makes on this arduous adventure, Scared Crow, Heartless and half man/half beast, Lars, Dot must battle the diabolically deadly Empress West if she is ever to return home with Ozz. Can Dot survive the evil machinations of the Empress and return home to rescue the United States before her wicked Aunt Emily succeeds with her sinister plan to take over the country?

About Bart Baker:

Bart and his family, Pastor Joe Elvis and their two sons Isaiah and Emmanuel, moved to St. Louis, Bart’s hometown. For nearly 30 year, Mr. Baker resided in Los Angeles, where he worked as a writer/producer in the entertainment industry.He has had two feature films produced LIVE WIRE for New Line Pictures, and SUPERCROSS for Fox, as well as eleven films for television, including CHILDREN OF THE BRIDE, which spawned two sequels, BABY OF THE BRIDE and MOTHER OF THE BRIDE on CBS, as well as the Christmas perennial, A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHRISTMAS for Lifetime.

Mr. Baker has worked on film and TV projects for Warner Brothers, Tristar, New Line, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, Lifetime, USA Network, Syfy Network, Fox Television, The Family Channel, as well as working on staff on the FX Network series, DIRT starring Courteney Cox.

Presently, Mr. Baker has two projects in development, HONEYMOON WITH HARRY a feature film based on Bart’s debut novel of the same name at New Line with Bradley Cooper attached to star. Mr. Baker has also completed his second novel, IMMEDIATE FAMILY. Mr. Baker also has eight produced theatrical plays under his belt.

An avid fitness buff and political junkie, Bart enjoys spending his free time with his family and friends, and enjoys teaching film/television writing classes at Webster University.

Writing is his passion and he feels blessed that he’s been able to make a living doing what he loves and for all the interesting people and events that he’s been exposed to through his work.

My IMDB page:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0048245/

For More Information

Visit Bart at his website

A contemporary retelling of a book that has become a children’s classic, After Ozz by Bart Baker is a fantasy novel written for the young adult crowd.  Filled with colorful characters, whose names make references to the Frank L. Baum’s original characters, contemporary language and lots of action, Mr. Baker’s story is both interesting and at times a little strange.  Due to the subject matter and some violence, I would recommend this book for an older teen.

As someone who’s read the original Wizard of Oz and seen the movie adaptation, with Judy Garland, at least 40 times since childhood (yeah, I’m of a particular generation), I suspect I don’t really need to do a mini review of the original story.  I will say that I found it interesting that Mr. Baker chose to make the character of “Aunty Em” into one of the wicked characters this time around.  And chose to give Dot, or Dorothy, a brother named Ozz and an uncle named “Wizzard”, who turned out to be one of the good guys this time around.  While many today look at the original as simply “entertainment”, I’m pretty sure Mr. Baker sees the original story as more, due to being a political junkie, and that his version has some political commentary behind it as well.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t really sure who the characters were standing in for in this particular updated version.

Overall Mr. Baker’s writing style is well developed, easy to follow and entertaining.  The story’s pace is fairly fast and there is enough action to appeal to today’s older teen crowd.  Social commentary aside, I think it’s an enjoyable fantasy adaptation and Mr. Baker’s “world building” is interesting and colorful. 

My Rating:  3.5 out of 5 Stars 

FTC Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour for a fair and honest review.  No payment was received for my opinion of the reading material provided.