Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Monday, July 29, 2013

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

How I Heard About It: Twitter of course.  It is great to know so many people on Twitter who get ARC's and start talking about certain books before they even come out.  This book was also highlighted on Amazon as a best pick for middle-grade readers. 

What It Is About:  This story follows one boy and several of his classmates on an adventure of a lifetime.  A new state of the art library is having a grand opening in a small town.  There are going to be twelve lucky essay winners who get to experience the library before anyone else.  As an extra surprise to these twelve winners, they find out they get to spend the night in the library.  While in the library, each of the twelve must figure out how to get out of the library and they can't use the same passage they used to enter the library.  There are plenty of clues provided to the children, but they also must use what they know about books and libraries (and games) to be the first one to find the "secret" exit! 

What I Thought Of It:  I so enjoyed this story.  It grabbed me from page one and didn't let go until the last word.  The story was such fun to read and I know would make an excellent read loud to my group of fourth graders.  One of the best parts of the story were all the references to actual books and authors.  The story highlighted how wonderful a library can be.  I enjoyed how the author took the idea of a traditional library and made it into something quite extraordinary.  As of now, I'm thinking this will be my first read aloud for the 2013-2014 school year.  

Who Should Read It:  As I mentioned this would make an awesome read aloud.  I think children between third and sixth grade would enjoy listening to this grand adventure.  It is a longer book with quite a bit of text on each page.  If a middle-grader reader is going to read this book on their own, I would say they would have to be a strong fourth grade reader or higher.  This is a must read and I know will be enjoyed by all readers.  Happy Reading! 

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