Summertime Roadtrips: 125 Wacky Roadside Attractions and Master-Mind

125 Wacky Roadside Attractions: See All the Weird, Wonderful, and Downright Bizarre Landmarks From Around the World!
National Geographic Kids
2016, 112 Pages, age 8+

As summer begins to wind down and thoughts turn towards getting ready for the first day of school, there might still be time for a road trip or two.  And if you are looking for some unusual ideas of what to do, look no further than this new book from National Geographic featuring 125 attractions from around the world.  There is the upside-down house in Poland that you enter through a window in the roof, or, how about Carhenge in Nebraska, where 39 cars are arranged in such a way that they mimic Stonehenge in England.  In Vermont, you can visit the Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard, or take a step back in time in London's Spooky House, where you will swear the long-ago residents are still living.  One of my favorites is the Pez Museum in California since I'm a Pez person from way back and have even sent them to China in family holiday packages.   New Jersey, a state proud of it's farm fresh produce (and take it from me, it is good), has a wonderful corn maze to get lost in, while in Belgium you can eat you dinner suspended in the air 160 feet above ground.  If you like creepy stuff, you can visit the International UFO Museum and Research Center in, where else, Roswell, NM, or go the Edinburgh to walk through the Underground Chambers that used to house poor people, who may or may not be haunting the vaults there.
Anyway, you get the picture.  There are all kinds of fun, scary, exciting things to do around the world and this is the book that can direct you to all of them.

Mastermind: Over 100 Games, Tests, and Puzzles to Unleash Your Inner Genius
by Stephanie Warren Drimmer, puzzles by Julie K. Cohen
National Geographic Kids, 2016, 176 pages, age 8+

While you are on the road, and the kids are getting antsy in the back seat, you might want to take along Mastermind. Here a book that is chockablock with all kinds of challenges for kids to sharpen their thinking before school begins and to pass the time in the car, at home, or wherever and whenever boredom begins to set in.   But this is much more than just a book of fun puzzles and games.  At the beginning, kids can take a test to determine what their best learning style is - seeing, hearing, smelling, etc, followed by some basic information about the brain.  Each chapter then focuses on one of these learning styles, discussing how a particular learning style works, followed by games, tests, and/or puzzles designed to optimize each learning style.  There are also all kinds of fun facts, information about geniuses we admire and a Test Your S.M.A.R.T.S at the end of each chapter, followed by a "final exam" at the end of the book.  Best of all, none of these tests count for anything more than fun.

Together, these two book make ideal traveling companions, but even it you are having a stavaction, or just don't have time right now to travel, 125 Wacky Roadside Attractions is a fun books to just read and think about, and Mastermind is the perfect book to keep for a rainy day.

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nonfiction books hosted by Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy 

Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein

Splendiferous Greetings and Salutations!

Well, Mr. Lemoncello's wonderful library has been open for a while now and is a big success.  You may remember that in Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, kids were invited to play his Library Lock-In game just prior to the opening of the town's first library in 12 years.  The lucky winners of this challenge were then featured on all of the Christmas advertisements for Mr. Lemoncello's games - video and board.

Now, due to popular demand, there's a new challenge at the Alexandriaville, Ohio's only library.  This time it's a duodecimalthon, consisting of 12 games all of which relate to the Dewey Decimal system.   Kids from all over the country are invited to compete for a place on regional teams, who then arrive in Alexandriaville to compete with the original winning team - Kyle Keeley, Miguel Fernandez, Akimi Hughes Sierra Russell and Haley Daley.  Sore loser Charles Chiltington and his officious mother are also back doing their best to sabotage the Olympics, and so is Andrew Peckleman.  Andrew is still angry over the first challenge and now so totally anti-library, he is content to just clean up and fill bird feeders in his spare time at the motel his newly-met -great-uncle-twice-removed had recently purchased.

Kyle, who has been rather cocky about his win and his subsequent fame, is a little worried about being able to defend his teams title, especially after meeting Marjory Muldauer, who main goal is to take Kyle down.  Marjory seems to know everything there is about the Dewey Decimal system, as opposed to Kyle, who seems to know nothing about.   But there a full scholarship for the wining team at stake and that is something that Marjory really desperately needs.  And she shares the belief with Mrs. Chiltington and Charles that a library should be just a library and it  and not a place for games, videos, holograms of famous scholars, as well as books.

So desperate, in fact, that when she is approached by Mrs. Chiltington to remove just one book from the library, with the promise of ending Mr. Lemoncello's antics and inappropriate library games, and a Go to College Free card, the offer just may be too much for Marjory to resist.

But when more and more books turn out to be missing from the library's shelves, it looks like someone is trying to censor what people may read.  Or maybe it's just another sinister plot to oust Mr. Lemoncello and turn to library into a traditional library.  Or maybe it's all of those things.  But will Kyle and Marjory and the other kids be able to override their competitive spirits and band together to solve the mystery of the missing books.

I found myself reluctant to pick up Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics when I first got it.  So often sequels are such let-downs.  Not this one.  It is every bit as much fun as the first novel.  Once again, Grabenstein showcases a large variety of books throughout the course of the novel (and there is a list of all the books mentioned at the back of the book, too).

For those readers already familiar with Escape from Mr. Lemomcello's Library, you'll slip right into this sequel; for those who haven't read the first book, no problem.  There's enough background given to let you know what is going on.

And would that Mr. Lemoncello's library really existed!  Oh well, at least, we have the next best thing - a book set in that splendiferous place.  And it is a fun, action-packed novel filled with games and even a couple of rebus puzzles readers can try to solve along with the characters.  And in true Grabenstein form, and in light of the banned books and censorship theme (one among many) in the novel, the last chapter is a challenge to the reader - to find the 20 things Mr. Lemoncello said in this volume that come from books once banned.

This is a book sure to please middle grade readers whether they like games or not and always remember that

KNOWLEDGE NOT SHARED REMAINS UNKNOWN 

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was received from the publisher

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Imagine a town that hasn't had a public library in 12 years.   Well, that is exactly what happened in Alexandriaville, Ohio.  But now, a new state-of-the-art library is about to open.  Not something that interested 12 year old Kyle Keeley until he learned that the library was built by none other than Mr. Luigi Lemoncello, his favorite game maker and Kyle loves to play games.

Now Mr. Lemoncello will host 12 kids, all age 12 to experience the library in all its technological, holographic glory in what amounts to an overnight library sleepover complete with games.   But the next day, Mr. Lemoncello makes them an offer (with parental permission, of course) no true blue game player could resist - A 24 hour Library Lock-In game in which the kids are challenged to figure out how to exit the library other that the way they came in or by using any of the emergency exits.  Naturally, there are hints scattered throughout the library, but first they must figure out how to find the hints.  And during the Lock-In, there is not contact with the outside world but there are additional Extreme Challenges for the hale and hearty where they either complete the challenge or are automatically sent home with some "lovely parting gifts."

The story is narrated by Kyle, a class clown and a crack game player and a pretty nice kid.  Along with him at the Library Lock-In are a diverse group, most of whom are out of the game almost before it begins.  Those left are Kyle's best friend Akimi Hughes, another ace game player; Haley Daley, the pretty cheerleader whose family is having financial problems; Miguel Fernandez, a nice kid and library geek who says "bro" a little too frequently; shy, bookish Sierra Russell and Charles Chiltington, rich, confident and suck up par excellence.  Akimi suggests that she and Kyle work together a la Survivor to solve the puzzle of how to exit the library until it is just the two of them left and they must compete with each other.  The other remaining players join them and soon it is Kyle's team against Charles Chiltington.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library is a fun book to read and there are enough clues, if you read carefully, to solve the puzzle along with the characters.  And if you really pay attention, maybe you can solve the puzzle that wasn't in the story but there is a clue about how to find it somewhere in the story.  I would read the Author's Note carefully for that one.

I liked the way a group of kids who didn't really know each other well could come together and work towards a goal.  Teamwork tells and it certainly does here.  I also like that a sense of responsibility and acts of kindness count in Mr. Lemoncello's library, as does treating people, even if they are only a holograph, with respect.  Score one for moral fiber!

Another nice touch - the number of favorite books that are mentioned throughout the novel and are the basis for some of Mr. Lemoncello's excellent puns.  Here is a book about a library and it truly celebrates books and reading.

Even if you don't like games (me!) or puzzles or ciphers (I love both), this is still a totally enjoyable book.  Think Survivor meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Night at the Museum meets Mr. Lemoncello.  You can't go wrong.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was received from the publisher.

There is a downloadable PDF study guide complete with Common Core Standards available HERE

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday is a weekly event hosted by Shannon Messenger at Books, Ramblings and Other Shenegans