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.[1][2]
 | |
| Author | Chris Grabenstein |
|---|---|
| Original title | Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library |
| Cover artist | David Kyle |
| Language | English |
| Series | Mr. Lemoncello's Library |
| Subject | Mystery |
| Genre | Children's |
| Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | June 25, 2013 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 037587089X |
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."[3]
Plot
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Kyle Keeley is an imaginative young boy who loves to solve puzzles created by famous game designer Mr. Luigi Lemoncello. One day, Lemoncello unveils his newest creation: a high tech library in which he selects twelve young children to solve puzzles and riddles and whoever gets out first will be the new spokesperson for all things Lemoncello. The twelve are selected: Kyle, his best friend Akimi, bookworm Sierra, nerd Andrew Peckleman, bully Charles Chiltington, popular girl Haley Daley, Rose Vermette, Sean Keegan, Bridgette Wadge, helpful Miguel Fernandez, over-eager Kayla Carson, and Yasmeen Smith-Snyder. Upon entering the library, Lemoncello and his assistant Dr. Zinchenko (Katey Hoffman) explain how difficult it is going to be and that they can use the devices they are given to opt out which opens a trap door that takes them out of the library. This causes Bridgette and Sean to forfeit and go home. Afterwards, the rules are explained and they are all given a library card which Kayla takes and hits causing her to be eliminated since she did not listen to the rules. After that, the challenge begins. Upon solving the first clue, Chiltington reveals his sly and bullying self when he lies to Yasmeen causing her to be eliminated. Afterwards, they are given four rooms designed based on book genres: horror, fantasy, classic, and children. A holographic librarian named Ms. Tobin appears and explains the rules of entering the room including you can only enter each room once. Miguel eagerly offers to enter the horror room to get the clue, but he soon becomes terrified by Count Dracula and Frankenstein's monster and opts out before he can reach The Tell-Tale Heart. Chiltington also gets Rose to opt out due to her own fear. Getting fed up with one another, the six remaining children divide into two teams: on one is Chiltington, Haley, and Andrew and on the other one is Kyle, Akimi, and Sierra. While Kyle's team enters the classic room where they had to ride flying books to solve a clue, Chiltington's team enters the children's section where Chiltington works to put Humpty Dumpty together while Peckleman meets Charlotte (Kari Wahlgren) from Charlotte's Web and Mother Goose. Both respective teams manage to receive their clues although Chiltington lies to everyone he forgot the clue in the children's section. This causes Haley to attempt to get it back, but is disqualified by Ms. Tobin for trying to go back inside: a rule which she did not listen to due to her doing selfies. She is sent down the trap door and is deposited outside as the crowd laughs at her. Lemoncello talks to Dr. Z about Chiltington's trickeries as Dr. Z leaves to go deal with a glitch involving Wilbur the Pig. While making her way to the scene of the glitch, Chiltington and Peckleman state that they aren't cheating as Chiltington secretly takes a golden key which has power over the whole library. Kyle's team enters the fantasy section while Chiltington decides to cheat and gets Andrew to follow him into the section as well deciding to cheat and use them to get the clue which Andrew is uneasy about. The troll (Dana Snyder) from Three Billy Goats Gruff has them make out as many words from Lemoncello where the failure will have them be attacked by the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk. Kyle's team solves another riddle and receives a clue. While using the key to collapse the beanstalk and cause the Wicked Witch of the East (Breanna Watkins) to manifest, Chiltington however accidentally destroys the system releasing all the creatures including Count Dracula, the troll, and a werewolf (Brin Alexander) into the library and wrecks havoc. Lemoncello decides to go into the library and help the children. While Mother Goose is shown to have gone over to one of the library sections and brushed up on ninjitsu as mentioned by Charlotte, the kids were able to use the characters' weaknesses like water on the Wicked Witch of the East. Chiltington, regretting what he has done after he and Peckleman were attacked by Hansel and Gretel (Simon Pidgeon and Devyn Dalton) for eating their bread crumbs, also elects to help the team. The group escapes into the vents as they see the giant approaching the exit to the fantasy section. Using dynamite, Lemoncello was able to put some distances between them and the pursuing Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, werewolf, and Hansel and Gretel. Making it to the exit, Ms. Tobin tells them how to activate it after she had fought off the troll. They all manage to restore order until a giant pterodactyl appears. The dinosaur was an idea created by Kyle and was released in the idea room when the children had previously entered. Instead of running in terror, Kyle faces his fear and fight off the dinosaur with red balloons he found after Lemoncello tells him not to blame himself for his idea, but embrace it as his own and defeat it using his bravery. Lemoncello, Dr. Z, and the five remaining children exit the game and Lemoncello, impressed by their bravery and creative solutions, declare them all winners and thus spokespeople for his company. Dr. Z states to Lemoncello that she will need a vacation after this as well as getting the book characters back into their respectful sections. Peckleman offers Chiltington his friendship and a ride home after having been previously told that Chiltington's parents could not be here due to work. Lemoncello offers Kyle a job as a summer librarian which he happily agrees to and then, Lemoncello presents Kyle his golden key to hold on to for safe keeping.
Awards
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.[4] Publishers Weekly called it "that perfect book that isn’t girly or boyish, but is just a good book for any middle-grade reader."[5] 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.[6][7]
The novel was also the 2013 winner of the Agatha Award for Best Children's/Young Adult Novel.[8] 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,[9] 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;
In 2016, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library was awarded the Mark Twain Readers Award by the Missouri Association of School Librarians.[10]
Sequels
A sequel titled Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics was released on January 6, 2016. There is also a third book, Mr. Lemoncello's Great Library Race, which was released in October 2017. The fourth book is entitled Mr. Lemoncello's All-Star Breakout Game, which was released in May 2019. The fifth sequel, Mr. Lemoncello and the Titanium Ticket, was released on August 25, 2020.
Characters
Kyle Keeley - a huge fan of Mr. Lemoncello and Lemoncello Games who doesn't read a lot of books, but learns to keep a must-read list. (Captain of Team Kyle.)
Charles Chiltington - a horrible and jerky dummy who'll do anything to win, even if it means sabotaging the rules or his fellow middle-schoolers. (Captain of Team Charles.)
Akimi Hughes - Kyle's best friend who's one of the dozens of people that are super excited about the new secretive library. (Team Kyle.)
Miguel Fernandez - the intelligent and enthusiastic president of a book club at school and another one of Kyle's friends. (Solo, then Team Kyle.)
Andrew Peckleman - Miguel's friend-turned-enemy and an easily tempered book-lover who knows his way around the Dewey Decimal System. (Solo, then Team Charles.)
Haley Daley - a sometimes snobby spokesmodel, but is soft deep down in her heart and is competing in the competition to aid her financially struggling family. (Solo, then Team Charles, then Team Kyle.)
Sierra Russell - a quiet and shy bookworm whose parents are divorced, but learns to loosen up during the competition. (Team Kyle.)
Mr. Luigi L. Lemoncello - the eccentric and humorous creator of Lemoncello Games and the Lemoncello Library dropping scripted clues throughout the escape game. (Creator)
Dr. Yanina Zinchenko - the world-famous head librarian of the Lemoncello Library who is the only one that knows the way out of the library.
Mrs. Gail Tobin - Mr. Lemoncello's former librarian and the new holographic assistant of the library. (Deceased; in holographic form)
Clarence & Clement - the heads of security at the Lemoncello Library and twins.
Curtis Keeley - Kyle's older brother and a mastermind.
Mike Keeley - Kyle's oldest brother and a sports expert.
Mr. & Mrs. Keeley - Kyle's witty parents.
Bridgette Wadge - A headfirst competitor of the escape game who wants to get a "jump start on things". (Solo.)
Yasmeen Smith-Snyder - another eager competitor who misinterprets the rules. (Solo.)
James F. "Uncle Jimmy" Willoughby III - the Librarian of Congress and Charles' busy uncle.
Mrs. Dana Cameron - a middle school teacher.
Mrs. Yunghans - the middle school librarian.
Rose Vermette - a soccer player and an early viewer of the library.
Kayla Corson - another early viewer of the library who doesn't interact much and is very shy.
Sean Keegan - a viewer of the library who thinks the competition is lame, boring and supposedly dumb.
Adaptation
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library was optioned by Nickelodeon as a movie, and filming was done in Vancouver BC, Canada.[11][12]
The film was directed by Scott McAboy Produced by Amy Sydorick and stars Casey Simpson as Kyle Keeley, Breanna Yde as Akimi, Klarke Pipkin as Sierra, A.J. Louis Rivera Jr. as Andrew Peckleman, Ty Nicolas Consiglio as Charles Chiltington, Russell Roberts as Mr. Lemoncello, Kari Wahlgren as the voice of Charlotte from Charlotte's Web, and Dana Snyder as the voice of the Troll from Three Billy Goats Gruff.[13][14]
The movie was released on October 9, 2017.[15]
References
- ^ "Children's Middle Grade". The New York Times. August 11, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "Children's Middle Grade". The New York Times. July 27, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ Dowling, Brendan (August 14, 2013). "A Thank You Note to Librarians: A Conversation with Chris Grabenstein". Public Libraries Online. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library". Kirkus. June 25, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ Grossenbacher, Emily (May 7, 2015). "Galley Talk: 'Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library'". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "Recommendations from the mind of James Patterson". The Washington Post. December 6, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ Westmoore, Jean (July 28, 2013). "Summer Reading for Young People: Adventures at 'Lemoncello's Library,' Buckingham Palace and more". The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "The Agatha Awards". Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ "Past Winners: Young Hoosier Book Award" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "2015-2016 MASL Readers Awards Winners".
- ^ "In Production". www.creativebc.com. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
- ^ "'Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library' Optioned by Nickelodeon (Exclusive)". The Wrap. February 19, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ^ https://ew.com/tv/escape-from-mr-lemoncellos-library-nickelodeon-photos/welcome-to-escape-from-mr-lemoncellos-library
- ^ "Nickelodeon's 'Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library' TV Movie Sets Cast". September 20, 2016.
- ^ New Movie Trailer 'Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library' 📚 | Premieres October 9th on Nick
External links
- Pacific Bay Entertainment website
- Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library at IMDb
- Entertainment Weekly - Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
- Kidscreen - Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
- Business Wire - Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
- Deadline - Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
- Publishers Weekly - Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
- Extra TV - Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
- World Screen - Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
