4.5. I thoroughly enjoyed this book in the way I enjoyed books as a kid. It’s intriguing, original, strange, a little cozy and also a little scary. It4.5. I thoroughly enjoyed this book in the way I enjoyed books as a kid. It’s intriguing, original, strange, a little cozy and also a little scary. It feels at once familiar and fresh. Pretty sure I would have devoured it several times as a child. Heck, I’d be happy to read it again now. The characters are memorable, and I read a lot that aren’t (admittedly, my book memory is poor outside of books I truly love). While it isn’t a difficult read, I will recommend it to voracious kid readers who just love how books work, just love a satisfying read.
3.5. There’s a very “Goonies” set-up going on here, which the author acknowledges and pays homage to. Exploring secret, hidden territory (tunnels and 3.5. There’s a very “Goonies” set-up going on here, which the author acknowledges and pays homage to. Exploring secret, hidden territory (tunnels and a ship in Goonies, an entire house set up as a series of elaborate escape rooms here) while solving puzzles under pressure and facing bodily peril, all for a chance at a rumored treasure that might help save one of the protagonists’ homes from foreclosure, etc. It took me a while to really get into this book, billed as a mystery, but I was all-in for the last half and eager to get back to it when I had to put it down and do other stuff. The closing chapters were suspenseful; the resolution interesting. I’ll recommend this one to kids who love books with puzzles and/or contests with treasures at stake—like Book Scavenger or The Westing Game.
Also—wow, what a cover. Good ones really DO help a book’s chances, and this one is even more clever when you look back at it after finishing the book.
Thanks to #edelweiss and the publisher for access to the digital ARC...more
This book and its sequel just tickle me to death. I haven’t seen anything else like them out there. Merritt’s jagged, angular, critterly illustrationsThis book and its sequel just tickle me to death. I haven’t seen anything else like them out there. Merritt’s jagged, angular, critterly illustrations and the “art direction”? mise en scene? flawless-however-you’d-put it have such momentum it’s as though they’re animated (and scored by Danny Elfman); they have a cartoony feel (eyeballs popping, etc) and remind me of Delia Ephron’s in *How to Eat Like a Child*. Both books are scary as heck. Both books are also often funny, and some of the humor is freakishly sophisticated (as when a creature attacking students in a school’s art room gleefully answers the question “What ARE you?” with “I’ll tell you what I’m NOT…I am not a pipe.”) Some libraries classify them as children’s graphic novels, but they feel more “heavily illustrated children’s fiction” to me. I’m not sure they’ve gotten the love they deserve—I’ve never heard anyone else (other than an enraptured child reader to another child reader) mention them. I’m booktalking these to 4th and 5th graders and hope there will be a third. ...more
Delightful, clever, naughty, and yes, reminiscent of Roald Dahl—but with more character growth, I think, then most of his books. His nasties mostly stDelightful, clever, naughty, and yes, reminiscent of Roald Dahl—but with more character growth, I think, then most of his books. His nasties mostly stay nasty. I don’t really want to share plot points, because I enjoyed being surprised myself, and if I remember correctly (it was long ago this morning, sigh), I was surprised by the end of the very first chapter—so I definitely want to use it in my First Chapter Fridays library program, where I read the first chapter or so of books and have them available for kids to check out after. This will be an excellent one for booktalking and handselling, too. ...more