Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

By Chris Grabenstein

Hi! Do you like fantasies? Well, this fantasy is the most interesting of them all!

This book is about a boy named Kyle Keeley. It’s a school day. He has a project to be done. The project is about Mr. Lemoncello. Mr. Lemoncello is a man who invents games. He’s built a giant library! There is a class assignment that everybody says what object they want to be at the library when they get there. Well, Kyle completely forgot! He had to have his best friend, Akimi, tell him about the assignment. He was like, “Oh, no! I must have dozed off or something when Mrs. Dana Cameron (their teacher) mentioned it.” The prize for the assignment was that they were the first ones who got to go into Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. And Mr. Lemoncello himself would be the judge of their assignments. So, Kyle did a short, quick assignment. This is what he wrote: “Balloons. There might be balloons.”

Surprisingly, Mr. Lemoncello did pick Kyle. He spent his first night in the library, having sweet dreams. He couldn’t wait to go home in the morning. Then, Mr. Lemoncello appeared out of nowhere in the library. He said that they were trapped inside this giant game. The first person to get out of the library wins. There was one secret exit located in the library. They would have to read and do research to pick up clues about where it was. If they wished to go home, they were to just put their library card that was handed out yesterday in the goldfish bowl (the goldfish bowl didn’t have any goldfish or water in it). The winner would get a prize. The prize was that they would be on every Lemoncello game product that he ever makes. And, on his TV Show, they would appear with him. It was noon when Mr. Lemoncello told them this. He said they had until noon the next day to get out of the library.

So, Kyle Keeley and a few other kids stayed. Who will be the first to come out? Will it by Kyle Keeley, or will no one be able to come out and the door just have to be opened? As I always say, read the book to find out!

I recommend this book to readers who can try to figure out mysteries on their own; to readers who are very smart and quick-minded and can remember things very well. If you just don’t get mysteries, then do not read this book. It gets confusing for those who cannot think of an answer and stay with the story as it goes and changes points.

A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:

“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor):
Zero.

“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor):
None. Nada.