nicolelynnreads's review
4.0
This was a super cute mystery! I can see fans of the Magic Tree House series liking this series! Evan and Cleo were fun friends and while I figured out the mystery super early, I’m sure younger readers will have fun trying to pick out the clues and solve it with the main characters! Quick, entertaining read & a fun jump start to the series!
mom2qam's review
4.0
My daughter and I just read this and liked it. It has a similar feel to the Magic Treehouse or Magic Bone type books. Fun read!
bookworm_baggins's review
4.0
Preview read for kids. Fun and exciting. Similar to magic treehouse but better written and a little more involved.
thebookstackbabe's review
5.0
5/5 ☆ rating! I loved this story for my second graders! They were BEGGING for me to continue reading even after we had read several chapters and needed to move on to something else. They're so excited about this series and are eager to continue reading the next story.
gcannison's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Description
Stumbling upon a secret library, two friends are sucked into a book and thrown headlong into a perilous adventure.
Cleo and Evan have to sit out recess in the library, when their librarian disappears moments after speaking with them, they go to investigate. But the magical library they find brings more questions than answers, as they discover notes from a past librarian who also disappeared, and are literally pulled into the story of a book. Can they solve a mystery to get home? And if they even can, will they find any answers when they get back?
Disclosure
I borrowed this book for free from our library system, it was provided for my personal use. There was no agreement with the author, publisher, or any third party that I would publish a review. The following review is unsolicited, unbiased, and all opinions are my own.
Review – Spoiler Free
I feel like books marketed to this age range tend to give way too much away, or drop in lots of humor for the adults, that kids totally don’t understand and end up getting confused by or asking questions about. Why does there need to be humor for the adult reader? If it’s a good book, shouldn’t it just naturally pull the adult reader along anyways?
I didn’t get any of that with this book – I hadn’t solved the mystery early on, and most things that a kid might not know are explained casually in text. (My favorite of which is when one character is confused about what a Red Herring is, assuming it is a fish, and another character explains it in a line that isn’t clunky and doesn’t mess with the story line. This example also makes me wonder if subsequent books will point out other story devises in similar ways, which I’d be pumped for.
Some other fun things are: good character development with hints at more depth coming in later books, and a full page image in every chapter.
One of my favorite things was that Evan and Cleo actually did something – they didn’t just get whisked off to some adventure and stumble through, flying by the seat of their pants without actually doing anything. No, they were involved in the adventure in intentional, thoughtful ways, and had a big part in how everything turned out. It’s a short, fast read and Luper was able to comfortably fit a meaningful plot in there.
This is advertised as appealing to 3rd and 4th graders, but I would totally read this to a 3 year old who is excited to listen to books. It’s also advertised as 3rd grade reading level – I have no experience with this yet, so I can’t add opinion to that. It could easily be compared to Magic Treehouse books with comprehension and reading ability.
I have very little complaints about this book. There is some teasing, but it is just playful banter between good friends. There was also one spot where I mixed up two minor characters, but it was easy to get them straightened back out.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it! I plan to read the rest of the series, and if they’re all this good, we’ll most likely be buying the set.
mrskatiefitz's review against another edition
3.0
This new Scholastic series follows Cleo and Evan, two kids who discover an extraordinary hidden collection beneath their ordinary school library, and quickly learn that their beloved school librarian has disappeared inside one of the books. Soon Cleo and Evan slip inside the stories as well, first taking on the roles of young detectives in The Mysterious Moonstone and then becoming junior spies in The Spy's Secret. Thwarted at every turn by the new replacement media specialist, Ms. Crowley, the two friends try to follow the keys that will lead them to their lost librarian. I normally hate books that so obviously glorify the library and try to "win over" librarians who purchase books, but this series is so far an exception. These are fast-paced, suspenseful stories which are more like explorations of different genres than love letters to the library itself. I see a lot of parallels between this series and Magic Tree House, a comparison which is sure to help them gain popularity, and they have the added benefit of appealing equally to boys and girls.
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