{"id":1180,"date":"2013-10-31T21:20:21","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T03:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=1180"},"modified":"2013-10-31T21:20:21","modified_gmt":"2013-11-01T03:20:21","slug":"chris-grabenstein-escape-from-mr-lemoncellos-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/chris-grabenstein-escape-from-mr-lemoncellos-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Grabenstein: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello\u2019s Library"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chris Grabenstein, charming and personable author of the John Ceepak mysteries, has now veered into young adult territory, with striking success.\u00a0 He has a few books he\u2019s written with James Patterson for middle grade readers, and this one, a standalone, is pretty much an instant classic.\u00a0 Bearing a similarity to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory<\/i> in format, this fun volume is a love letter to libraries, reading and enthusiastic young readers everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"MrLemoncellosLibrary\"<\/a>Much like Willy Wonka, Mr. Lemoncello is a legendary figure, a puzzle and game creator extraordinaire.\u00a0 He\u2019s also rehabbing the local library in Alexandriaville, Ohio, and he\u2019s holding a contest to let twelve lucky twelve-year-olds be the first patrons of the new town library.\u00a0 They\u2019ll be locked in for a weekend of fun, games and puzzles.\u00a0 All the kids have to do to get to be one of the twelve is write an essay telling why they want to be a part of the new library opening.<\/p>\n

Our hero, Kyle Keeley, grounded for a week, has forgotten to do his extra credit homework which, you guessed it, was the essay for the library contest.\u00a0 Through a series of circumstances Kyle is indeed one of the lucky twelve (hardly a surprise as he\u2019s the main character).\u00a0 Unlike the other contestants, Kyle isn\u2019t so much a reader as a puzzle and game aficionado.<\/p>\n

As the contest gets underway, alliances form, and the kids playing the game all take on distinct personalities.\u00a0 \u00a0 The library itself is unbelievably fabulous \u2013 just reading about it makes you wish it were real (much like Mr. Wonka\u2019s factory), and while this book is jammed full of references to other books and authors it seems natural, not forced.\u00a0 They\u2019re just part of the library landscape Grabenstein is depicting.<\/p>\n

Filled with tricky puzzles and clues, Mr. Lemoncello\u2019s Library<\/i> is a completely charming and fun ode to reading and using your brain wherever possible.\u00a0 As Kyle\u2019s team nears the end of the story, you\u2019ll be rooting for all of them and trying your best, along with them, to solve Grabenstein\u2019s clever and witty puzzles.\u00a0 This is a book to treasure and re-read.\u00a0 Any 10- or 11-year-old worth their salt will be in absolute heaven between the covers of this book, which is geared neither for girls or boys but for either.\u00a0 As I said at the beginning of this review, this book truly is an instant classic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Grabenstein, charming and personable author of the John Ceepak mysteries, has now veered into young adult territory, with striking success.\u00a0 He has a few books he\u2019s written with James Patterson for middle grade readers, and this one, a standalone, is pretty much an instant classic.\u00a0 Bearing a similarity to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-1180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-kids"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1182,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180\/revisions\/1182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}