Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

This is a fun and lively book that should have big appeal to young readers who enjoy any sort of game playing. 

A new library is opening in town, and the benefactor, Mr. Luigi Lemoncello is sponsoring a contest for twelve students to attend the gala opening  and then stay overnight in the library for an assortment of fun activities.   When morning arrives, the children find they are locked in until one of them finds the clues to solve the puzzle of where is the secret exit.

I enjoyed listening to this audio book and following the students as they found and sought to understand the varied clues.  The story line helped illustrate that libraries play important roles in many peoples lives and that they are not just limited to school research projects.  To solve the puzzle, they had to explore the many different facets of the library from the high tech displays to the traditional printed books.

I can imagine a high level of appeal to the target audience of 9-12 year old readers.  Adults shouldn't get too hung up on the extremes of what is possible or feasible for a library.  Author Chris Grabenstein continues the tale in Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics.

I listened to the unabridged audio book as read by Jesse Bernstein. Six hours 19 minutes.

Cover image courtesy Penguin Random House Canada.

#IndigoEmployee