Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
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| Author | Chris Grabenstein |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's |
| Publisher | Random House |
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Publication date
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25 June 2013 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | |
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library is a children's novel by author Chris Grabenstein. It was on the New York Times bestseller list for Middle Grade novels for 111 weeks between 2013 and 2016, peaking at #8 in hardback and #2 in paperback.
Story 12-year-old Kyle Keeley is obsessed with the board games of Mr. Lemoncello, the world's most renowned game maker. He finds out that there is a new public library in town. He and all the other 12-year-old's have never experienced a public library in their town. When it turns out that Mr. Lemoncello is behind the town's new state-of-the-art public library, Kyle is thrilled to be chosen as part of a group of kids participating in a lock in for the grand opening even though the essay he entered consisted of one sentence. But Kyle's knowledge of games and his friends' knowledge of books and libraries are put to the test when they have to play the biggest game yet; having to escape from the library using only their wits and the clues scattered around.
Grabenstein has stated that the book contains a secret puzzle that readers can decode. To solve it, he offers some advice given by Mr. Lemoncello in the book: "Forget the Industrial Revolution, my first idea might be your best solution."
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library was a New York Times bestseller for Children's Middle Grade and received positive reviews. Giving it a starred review, Kirkus Reviews praised the book as a "solid, tightly plotted read" full of puzzles and puns.Publishers Weekly called it "that perfect book that isn’t girly or boyish, but is just a good book for any middle-grade reader." Reviewers (including author James Patterson, a frequent collaborator of Grabenstein's) also compared the book favorably to Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The novel was also the 2013 winner of the Agatha Award for Best Children's/Young Adult Novel. This was the fourth time that Grabenstein won this award, the first for his novel The Crossroads.
It has also won several Children's Choice State Book Awards:
Arizona, Grand Canyon Reader Award Delaware, Blue Hen Book Award Florida, Sunshine State Young Readers Award Indiana, Young Hoosier Book Award, Intermediate Kansas, William Allen White Children’s Book Award Maine, Student Book Award Maryland, Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Minnesota, Maud Hart Lovelace Award Mississippi, Magnolia Award Missouri, Mark Twain Readers Award Nebraska, The Golden Sower Award New Hampshire, Great Stone Face Book Award New Jersey, Garden State Book Award North Dakota, Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award Ohio, Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award Oregon, Reader’s Choice Award Pacific Northwest Library Association, Young Reader’s Choice Award Rhode Island, Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Tennessee, Volunteer State Book Award Vermont, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Virginia, Virginia Reader’s Choice Award
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