adventure

Book Review: Silent Extraction

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Silent Extraction
Coordinator Files Trilogy #1
by J.N. Timmer

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure, puzzles

When your parents and sister are kidnapped and you have good reason to believe the kidnappers after after you too, what do you do? This book is a call-back to the old Choose Your Own Adventure franchise, except the choices are puzzles that the reader must solve in order to move on correctly.

Classic Choose Your Own Adventure books were a big thing when I was growing up, but I remember that I didn’t enjoy them that much, because they kinda stressed me out. I didn’t trust my instincts and decision-making skills, and would worry about making the wrong decision and ending the story early. However, a book of the same type that requires you to solve a puzzle correctly to move is more objective than subjective, which appeals to me. The book is written in 2nd person, which is pretty normal for this kind of book, though I am a little confused about the age the MC is supposed to be and thus the age range the book is intended for. This might be on purpose, but that means it’s difficult to know how to gauge the difficulty of the puzzles based on the age the book is meant for. For me, an adult who enjoys escape rooms and other puzzle-y things, some of the puzzles were super easy and some were a bit too arbitrary or subjective. I think I got only one completely wrong, and though I did understand the explanation given, I might have wished for a little more explanation before making my decision; and I kinda just guessed another one or two that I got right. However, if the puzzles were all super easy, it wouldn’t be very fun, and there are hints for every puzzle in the back of the book.

The story is appropriately exciting and even gives the young MC a realistic reason for being involved in the action and danger without involving police or other adults. It’s an overall quick read, even with the time spent solving puzzles. It was a fast-paced race to first save your family from some very dangerous people. The only aspect of the story that I found a bit off was one wrong answer that leads to a brief page in which you basically kill your own dad. It felt a bit extreme to me.

When I read a self-published book, it is my intention not to let things that a professional editor would help with affect my view too much. I’m not saying that there is no burden of responsibility here, but it’s harder for self-published authors. So while it did not affect my rating, I will at least mention that there are several mistakes throughout the text; for example, there are a lot of comma errors and one “your” that should have been a “you’re.” It can detract from the book for some, so let that be a warning. And I was sad when one puzzle instruct me to cut pieces apart and put them together to find the right page number to go to next, for various reasons, one of which is that I like being able to share books with others. I didn’t know this was a one-and-done story. But since it’s the only puzzle like that, the author could easily provide a link to a replacement puzzle online, allowing the original reader to print the puzzle and pass it on with the book (though he’d also have to separate the puzzle from the story text on the other side of the same page, but again, easily done). On the other hand, I am seeing now that the book is fairly low priced on Amazon, so I guess it’s not a huge deal to buy a new copy if you read the book, destroy the one page, and then want to share the book with someone else. And to be fair, I didn’t have to cut the pieces apart; it was pretty easy to solve just by looking at it. (On an unrelated note, there’s a Kindle version of this book, which makes me wonder how that cutting puzzle would work.)

Overall, I really liked the idea of a puzzle-led Choose Your Own Adventure type of book, and this did deliver well on that idea. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but not the kind that I find too often these days (especially in self-published books) where even the story goal of the first book isn’t resolved—fortunately, it is. I think that kids aged around 10-12 who like puzzles and books with adventure or thrills would like this book.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

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Book Review: The Lightning Thief

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The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1
by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy adventure

Percy Jackson has always had issues, but then his algebra teacher attacks him and he accidentally kills her, and his dyslexia isn’t the biggest problem in his life anymore. It turns out that he is a half-blood, meaning the son of a Greek god, and now monsters are going to periodically try to kill him. And to top it all off, he’s accused of stealing Zeus’s master lightening bolt. What’s a half-blood to do?

This is one of those series that I’ve heard of for years, but was never really on my radar. But my now-15-year-old daughter read it and loved it and ended up convincing me to read it. It was a fun read! Percy is a pretty sympathetic young hero, with dyslexia and ADHD and a whole lot of catching up to do when he finds out about his parentage. Though he’s not completely ignorant, as he’s been learning about Greek mythology all his life. I also really liked Grover, and though Annabeth was sort of meh to me at first, she grew on me too. Of course there are bullies, both inside and outside of the “special” world, but it’s nice to see Percy able to fight back in some way. Some of the minor wins he had along the way in general made me cheer. 

The chapter titles are sometimes hilarious (ch 1: “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher”), sometimes intriguing, and sometimes a little dull, but overall, getting to the end of a chapter and seeing what the next would would be added a little thrill to the reading. And right off the bat, the incident with the teacher drew me in and made me so excited to know more! I don’t have much more than a sketchy knowledge of Greek mythology, so I wasn’t able to figure anything out that wasn’t explained in the story. On the other hand, I did correctly guess how the main part of the prophecy Percy receives would play out. It didn’t bother me to figure it out in advance, though. It just made sense.

There were two main downsides for me, one being just the nature of Greek mythology that comes into play so heavily in this book. Apparently it’s common for them to sleep around and either impregnate women or, in the case of the female gods, get pregnant themselves, only to abandon the baby and his/her mother/father. All through the centuries. I mean…it’s just kind of skeevy to me. The other downside was the motivation for the bad guy and his minion(s). It’s a bit cliché. But I suppose it might be pretty apt given who the main bad guy is. Plus, this book is written for kids around 10-13, so it probably won’t be particularly cliché for them yet. And both of these together only meant a half-star detraction, because the book was overall a lot of fun and excitement with a hint of much more to come. I recommend this to pre-teens and young teens (and it would be a good one for more reluctant readers, I think, especially boys), but really anyone who enjoys younger audience fantasy and adventure would probably like it.

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Book Review: Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics, the Graphic Novel

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Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics, the Graphic Novel
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series
by Chris Grabenstein
illustrated by Douglas Holgate

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Children’s adventure, graphic novel

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain some spoilers for the first book in the series, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.

After their big win in Mr. Lemoncello’s escape game, Team Keeley is challenged by basically every kid in the country. They all want their chance at stardom (starring in commercials for Mr. Lemoncello games) and are unhappy that the contest was so localized. So Mr. Lemoncello grants them their wish, because hey, that means he gets to create more games! The top teams in each region of the country are chosen and invited to Ohio to compete for full college scholarships—against Kyle’s team. The only problem is that Kyle isn’t so sure he’s up to the challenge this time.

I read and reviewed the original book (see review here), so this review is less about the story and content than it is about the graphic novel format. That being said, I enjoyed the story a little more this time than the previous, and I think that might just be because the graphic novel format lends itself so well to this series! Mr. Lemoncello is such a character as it is, and he’s really brought to life in images. (Maybe they should have gone with animation when they made a movie out of the first book.) It’s fun to see the library itself, as well, and being shown the puzzles feels more natural this way (not that I’m complaining about Grabenstein including visual puzzles in the original books). As for this book, though, I think that fans of the series will enjoy this new format, but I’d imagine that the idea for it is more to encourage kids who don’t care to read regular books to pick up this illustrated version and enjoy the story. Since I had already read the original book, I can’t say for sure how the story will come across to a newcomer, but I think it would be a fun read for 8-12-year-olds!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest

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Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest
by Chris Grabenstein

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

Twelve-year-old Benjamin Broderick is into puzzles and random knowledge. Eighteen-year-old Ethan Broderick is into sports and girls. These brothers don’t have much in common and aren’t very close, and it won’t get any better once Ethan leaves for college in the fall. Though being coerced into taking a road trip together isn’t how Ethan wants to spend the beginning of his summer, he can’t deny that the perks might just be worth it. Especially when Benjamin wins them a chance at a million-dollar prize, and all they have to do is work together to solve a series of puzzles set up by the eccentric puzzle purveyor, Ms. Pennypickle—before their competition beats them to it.

This book was a lot of fun overall to read. I really felt for Benjamin, who keeps trying to connect with his brother without being pushy. And Ethan isn’t mean or bad, he’s just an 18-year-old about to go out into the world and not exactly thinking about how his little brother fits into his life anymore. There were parts to this book that felt a little too convenient or coincidental or just unrealistic, but it all made sense in the end, and in a way that I really enjoyed. There’s a twist to this book that I didn’t see coming, and then a second, smaller twist that I anticipated, based on the first twist, though that doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy to be right. It actually reminded me of one of my favorite movies, but to even say what that movie is would be a spoiler for this book, to those who know the movie.

The book has a lot of interesting trivia in it, especially about Route 66, introducing me to locations that I’ve never heard of and probably never would have, but I have to admit that it made me want to take a road trip to experience some of these places. There is also plenty of humor and a fun shout-out to Grabenstein’s much-loved Lemoncello series. And speaking of that, I appreciate Grabenstein wanting to go in a new direction from that popular series yet still wanting to include puzzles in this book. I felt there was more diversity in puzzle types in this book, and I really liked trying to solve some of them along with the characters. And while it’s difficult to avoid comparing Ms. Pennypickle with Mr. Lemoncello, due to them both being eccentric, rich, genius puzzle creators, I noted some personality differences in Ms. Pennypickle that made her her own person. And the story focuses more on family and relationships than the end goal. I don’t know that this book can become a series, but I do hope Grabenstein continues to write puzzle-filled, adventurous books like this. I really recommend this book for kids around 8-12, and for parents too—any age, really, especially those who like games.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Al Capone Throws Me a Curve

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Al Capone Throws Me a Curve
Tales from Alcatraz #4
by Gennifer Choldenko

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade historical fiction

Thirteen-year-old Moose Flanagan’s dad is the assistant-warden on the island of Alcatraz, but even living amongst some of the most infamous criminals in the world isn’t enough to get Moose and his friend Scout onto the high school baseball team as freshmen. He has all summer to try to figure out how to please the team’s captain, but it won’t be easy. Meanwhile, there are rumors that the convicts are going to strike and that Moose’s father might become even more of a target.

The series finishes strong, with another compelling story and the title coming into play in a way I didn’t expect. I was glad that the awkward teen-romance triangle between Moose, Piper, and Annie was non-existent in this book, because Annie was gone for the summer. Though on the other hand, Scout was a bit annoying to me this time with his insistence on Moose pandering to the captain of the baseball team in ways that would be dangerous at best. There was one particular aspect in this book involving a signed baseball that felt a little weak—the baseball was a factual item, but its use in the story didn’t really work for me.

The climax of this book is full of excitement. As I’ve said before, one of the things I love about this series is that it doesn’t pander to the young audience for which it’s intended. The stakes are high, the danger is real (not just physical danger, but the danger of Moose’s dad losing his job during the Great Depression), and Moose has to make some truly impossible choices. He is a true hero in many ways in this book, and I really liked how everything came out in the end. I also found it interesting that Al Capone, who has been sort of idolized by most of the kids throughout the series, is brought down off his pedestal, at least for Moose, in this book. And I again enjoyed reading the author’s notes at the end of this book. I applaud Choldenko’s research and inclusion of history in this series. I recommend the whole series (but start at the beginning!) for pre-teens and young teens, as well as any adults who enjoy younger-audience books.

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Book Review: The Alcatraz Escape

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The Alcatraz Escape
Book Scavenger #3
by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

An escape room in Alcatraz? What’s not to love?! Of course, there’s more to the story as Emily, James, and Matthew test their wits against fellow book scavengers and other puzzle lovers. Someone clearly doesn’t want Emily involved, and the man who helped create the story for the escape room is more than a little mysterious. Then Matthew is blamed for several mean-spirited incidents, so Emily has to kick her puzzling into high gear.

As an escape room enthusiast, I often find that books that are billed to be about escape rooms are the worst at being true to the real-life experience. This book was the first that I’ve read with escape rooms mentioned in the synopsis that had a true escape-room feel, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. The rest of the plot involving the mysterious game maker and Matthew being suspected as a villain was good as well. I think the inclusion of several of Emily’s classmates may have bloated the character list a little too much, and it was difficult to keep some of them straight. Overall, though, this was a good wrap-up to a series about books and puzzles that I have really enjoyed, and I think that as a kid, I would have loved it all the more. So it’s easy to recommend it to kids aged around 10-14 (my 14-year-old daughter loved it as well) but also for teens and even adults who enjoy books and puzzles.

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Book Review: Day of Doom

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Day of Doom
The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers #6
by David Baldacci

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

The Vespers have a doomsday device and still have control of the hostages that they’ve been using to control Amy and Dan for a while now. Can the Cahills free their friends and save the world?

The only reason I give this book 3 stars instead of less is because I still overall enjoy the world that has been set up here. But like the main series of books, the ending to this story arc left a lot to be desired. There were continuity and characterization issues, as well as story points set up earlier in the series that were forgotten or fizzled. I was cautiously excited to see how some of it played out, and it really wasn’t anything special in the end. I don’t know how much of that could be attributed to another brand-new author to the series, though, and how much was just a bad set-up. I have wondered throughout this entire series how much each author got to choose what was going to happen in their book and how much was dictated by someone at the publishing company.

The ending was fairly anti-climactic and contained one of the largest out of character moments in the entire season. I wonder if it would have been better if one of the authors who wrote many of the other books had written this one, but it is what it is. I do tend to think that this being a series meant for kids/teens has led the powers that be to feel that it’s good enough to throw action, adventure, and interesting locations out there and not worry so much about good plots and continuity of characters. Yet for all of that, as I said at the beginning of my review, I really do still like the story world and would recommend at least the first series to anyone who is interested in this kind of fiction. And I plan to read more of what was published later. But my interest in the overall series has diminished a bit at this point, so I may lose my momentum at some point.

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Book Review: The Unbreakable Code

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The Unbreakable Code
Book Scavenger #2
by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain spoilers for the previous book, Book Scavenger.

At a party at Hollister’s book store celebrating the release of a lost book by Edgar Allen Poe, Emily witnesses her teacher, Mr. Quisling, stealing something out of a purse. Before she can decide whether to confront him or not, he drops it, and she and James decode a message that starts them off on a new quest to learn more about something called the Unbreakable Code. But when they begin to realize that an arsonist is involved in the same quest, they’re not sure who to trust.

I loved this book almost as much as the first one. Emily and James (and Steve), and at times Matthew, still make a great team. The Book Scavenger game is a fun addition to the plot, and the Unbreakable Code angle was really intriguing. Though the code itself is fictional, the author includes a lot of real San Francisco history that I think made the story come alive. One thing I noted while reading this book is that, unlike several other series I’ve read similar in genre and age group, for the most part, these kids aren’t getting up to things that kids their age would never be able to do. I’m not saying everything is 100% realistic, but I think it was moreso than even the previous book in the series. Bertman does a great job of keeping it real.

I only had a few issues with one particular plot hole and with the fact that…well, the entire arson angle felt unnecessary to me. Fortunately, the rest of the story was so enjoyable, those things barely detracted from the rest of the book. I  highly recommend it to kids aged around 10-14 (my 14-year-old daughter loved it as well) but also for teens and even adults who enjoy books and puzzles.

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Book Review: Trust No One

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Trust No One
The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers #5
by Linda Sue Park

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade mystery, adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

Amy and Dan Cahill continue to jump through hoops for their enemy, Vesper One, trying to save the lives of their abducted friends and family members. Meanwhile, the in the Cahills’ inner circle will be exposed.

I kinda don’t know where to begin with this review. The story really ramps up in this penultimate book, and yet at the same time, it’s still stagnant in some ways. The fact that my synopses for these books basically always have some version of “Amy and Dan continue doing Vesper One’s bidding to try to save the lives of their hostage loved ones…” means that there’s not a whole lot of variation in the plots. And what they’re doing for the Vespers is always stealing something that’s priceless or super heavily guarded or just missing from history. I will say, though, the historical treasure involved in this book was really interesting. I was curious enough to look it up online and learn more about it.

I mentioned before that this series is a bit darker than the original, and that is especially true when you consider the body count to this point. Not that no one died in the original series, but here it seems like a Cahill or Cahill ally dies every book. I’m not a huge fan of that, especially considering who some of the characters are that are dying, some that I really like. Some of the danger elements in this book seem a little forced and unnecessary, which is the main reason for my lower star rating. There are some explanations given in this book as well as some questions left open still for the final in the series. I have my own theories as well, including a counter theory to one made by Dan near the end of this book. Then the book ends on a major cliffhanger, and I have high hopes for the last book (while also being trepidatious, since it’s written by an author brand new to this series and has quite a few loose ends to tie up).

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Book Review: Al Capone Does My Homework

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Al Capone Does My Homework
Tales from Alcatraz #3
by Gennifer Choldenko

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade historical fiction

Thirteen-year-old Moose Flanagan’s life on Alcatraz we already a little odd, not to mention difficult, but when his father becomes assistant warden, he knows it’s up to him to watch his dad’s back. Then his apartment catches fire and his autistic sister is blamed, and Moose has his hands full trying to figure out who really set the fire.

I liked this book almost as much as the first in the series, which means I liked it a little more than the second. The kids on the island were a little more under control this time (they seemed to just go a little nutty in the previous book), and I really felt for poor Moose. He tends to take too much responsibility on his own shoulders, and there’s a lot to deal with here. Besides the fire, there’s another side mystery developing on the island, and I was caught up in both of these plots. I half-guessed one of the culprits, but there was more to it than I expected, and events transpired that I didn’t anticipate. 

One of the things I like about this book, and the series in general, is that it doesn’t pander to its younger audience. Stakes and consequences are high, and though the kids and teens on the island tend to get into things a little above their heads, it’s not unrealistic or eye-rolling like some books for this age group can be. I also appreciate that the author has first-hand experience with an autistic sibling, which makes Moose’s sister Natalie come across as authentic. I recommend this book for pre-teens and young teens, as well as any adults who enjoy younger-audience books.

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