“Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library” by Chris Grabenstein
Random House Children’s Books, New York, 288 pages, Grades 4-6.
Libraries are fascinating places to spend time. People eager to learn about literature, maps, government documents flock to libraries. Public libraries have always served as a type of “public college” for people desiring to learn and improve themselves. Most successful people have fond memories of public libraries and librarians. Most countries are not as blessed as the United States which has a strong tradition of supporting libraries.
Chris Grabenstein has written a delightful story about a group of 12-year-old children spending a night in a public library. The name of this enjoyable tale is “Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.”
Kyle Keeley is a 12-year-old boy addicted to video games. He seldom reads books because the stories move too slowly. Several of Kyle’s friends inform him of an adventure that will soon take place in the newly-renovated public library. Mr. Luigi Lemoncello, a billionaire from the community has completely financed the new library. The winners of a competition at the library will become wealthy from doing commercials for the Lemoncello Company, which makes board and video games. Kyle quickly becomes interested and asks what he has to do to get selected for the event. He is told that he must write an essay and submit it to qualify for the library event. Quickly scribbling a few words, Kyle enters his “essay.” Much to his surprise, he is selected and is told that the winners will spend a night in the library before it opens the next day.
Additionally, there will be food, books, adventures and video games. The video games part catches his interest.
The 12 winners then go to the public library and are told the rules of the competition. First, the goal is to escape from the library. Second, all the doors to the library are locked. Third, they will be given clues about how to escape. Fourth, they have several informational helps. The catch is that if you answer the question wrong with one of these assists, you lose the game. Finally, the children only have 24 hours to solve the puzzle of escaping from the library.
The children have been told that they are to act with gentleness toward the book collection and toward the other contestants. But quickly some of the children begin sabotaging other contestants. One boy, Charles Chiltington, is particularly proud and selfish. His only goal is to win the contest and make a great deal of money. He is cunning and manipulates the other children.
Kyle decides to set up a team. He and his teammates conclude that they have a better chance of winning if they work together. All the clues relate to books, characters, famous authors and the Dewey Decimal Classification System. The clock begins ticking and the children frantically try to make sense out of all these literary allusions to win the competition. Time runs short. What happens?
What does Kyle and his team learn about working together? Is it better to try to help each other or to turn on the other contestants? How do forgiveness and justice drive their decisions? Is crime and dishonesty punished? Who finally wins? To find out the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out this amusing novel, “Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library” by Chris Grabenstein.
This novel won Nebraska’s 2016 Golden Sower Award for the most popular book for students in grades 4-6. The book is funny and is a real page-turner. While it doesn’t aspire to be great literature and has several crude, fifth-grade-type comments, the novel consistently shows the value of honesty, hard work and cooperation. Conversely, it demonstrates what happens when people make selfish decisions. It is easy to see why so many middle grade students loved this book.
