Chelsea Russell's Blog

A fun, entertaining read. Unfortunately, some people might decide not to bother with reading this book since it seems too reminiscent of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." But before you make any hasty decisions, I'm glad to inform you Chris Grabenstein readily addresses the similarities and in quite an amusing manner. There were multiple references to books scattered throughout, which I found quite delightful. How could you not enjoy a book that's meant to teach children the wonderful joys and hidden treasures contained within a public library?

Technology was woven throughout this book, but it was done in such a manner that showed how it can be used for good and not bad. I guess sometimes technology is considered so much more exciting than books it makes me worry what the future may hold. I wonder if one day kids will forgo books entirely for video games. Luckily, this book gave me the hope to think otherwise. I really enjoyed seeing Kyle's interest in reading flourish. It didn't take him too long to realize books are just as good as "watching a 3-D IMAX movie in his head."

I thought some of the trivia and questions might be pretty hard for 12 year olds, especially considering most kids nowadays don't even know the slightest thing about "Hawaii Five-O" or Agatha Christie. Shoot, some of the questions were hard for me! I could be wrong though ;p.

There were a lot of good messages scattered throughout this book as well. I won't spoil them for you, but I was glad to see there were repercussions and rewards for the children's behavior. The riddles were truly enjoyable and I found myself scrambling to figure them out as well.

If you love books, then "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" is a definite must read!

P.S. - There's even an unsolved mystery mentioned at the end of the book! I'm working on figuring it out, but it's certainly a bit of a challenge.