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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Car trip book. Cute and engaging. Little bit of history for the kiddos. A few loose ends and I don't see a sequel that wraps them up yet.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read this with my 8 year old who loves gaming, it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but he ended up loving it so it was a success in my book! This was a book about a kid who is a master of escape room challenges, and when his great uncle is on his death bed, he gives him a clue to a real life escape the room type game. It was a fun story that had action on almost every page, plenty of adventure, and even a bit of danger mixed in! We definitely enjoyed this book!
inspiring
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It has a lot of characters and it is hard to do an ar test on
Ted enjoys playing escape room video games and he seems to be rather good at them. But, he is surprised when his dying uncle shows an interest in Ted's hobby. When the Uncle dies, Ted discovers that he left him a real live treasure hunt and the answers are suspiciously held in the computer games that he loves to play. With the help of his best friend Caleb and a new acquaintance, Isabel, Ted sets out to see exactly what the treasure is that his uncle left him.
Good middle grade mystery/treasure hunt book for fans of Mr. Lemoncello's library, Under the egg, and Indiana Jones.
Good for ages 11 and up.
Good middle grade mystery/treasure hunt book for fans of Mr. Lemoncello's library, Under the egg, and Indiana Jones.
Good for ages 11 and up.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was so much fun. Mystery, puzzles, friendships, history. Literary quotes!
I actually learned a lot from this book- I love when that happens. I adored the characters and the mystery. A lot of humor and nerd references sprinkled throughout. The best part, for me being an adult reading a middle grade, was that it don’t feel like it was written for middle graders. It was just such a fun adventure- highly recommend!
I actually learned a lot from this book- I love when that happens. I adored the characters and the mystery. A lot of humor and nerd references sprinkled throughout. The best part, for me being an adult reading a middle grade, was that it don’t feel like it was written for middle graders. It was just such a fun adventure- highly recommend!
Mystery fans rejoice, there is a new book that you are going to love! If you enjoy the suspense and the characters in books like Chasing Vermeer or Under the Egg, then you must try Click Here to Start. I should also mention that it has a preteen Ready, Player One sort of vibe.
So, where to start...Ted Gerson and his best friend Caleb enjoy escape the room games, video games where you have to search through all the items in a room and discover the clues to help you escape from the room. Ted always finished the games very quickly and is a reigning high score champion on every game he plays. Caleb plays for the fun of it, but isn't as intuitive about the games as Ted. What Caleb is really good at is art, and he would make an excellent graphic novelist when he grows up. When Ted's great-uncle leaves the contents of his apartment to Ted, Caleb tags along to help sort through all the piles of stuff (think "Hoarders"), and also to see if there might be any old comic books around. They also get some unexpected help from the daughter of Mr. Gerson's boss. Since they have just moved into the area, the parents think it would be good to get the kids together and let Isabel make some friends before school starts.
Together these three kids get pulled into a dangerous situation involving WWII, the history of the Nisei Brigade, Nazi confiscation of artwork and valuables during the war, and the Monuments Men. With Ted's gaming expertise, Caleb's artistic talents, and Isabel's vast knowledge of history and literature, the friends must solve the puzzles left by Great-Uncle Ted and find the "treasure" he left behind. Everything from UV spy pens to lip gloss are used to find and access information that they need to complete their mission. Readers learn a lot about escape the room games, American history, and problem-solving long the way.
The author does a wonderful job of showing that the kids are just normal tweens, not super heroes. Ted's father is a typical absent-minded professor, his mom is a nurse, and they both worry that Ted spends to much time on his laptop playing games rather than focusing on school work. Caleb's parents are divorced (his father left his mother for a younger woman), and spends much of his time drawing super hero characters beating up a bad guy that looks remarkably like his dad. Isabel's mother passed away and her father took this new job at the college where Ted's father works so that they could make a fresh start in a new place without so many memories. There are no James Bond type spy gadgets, no psychic powers, just kids who have hobbies they enjoy and that just happen to come in handy during their adventure.
If you like the way the kids work together in Blue Balliett's books, the transfer of skills from video games to solving real life mysteries, or the mix of American history into a quest for valuable objects (a bit like "National Treasure"), then this is the perfect book for you.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
So, where to start...Ted Gerson and his best friend Caleb enjoy escape the room games, video games where you have to search through all the items in a room and discover the clues to help you escape from the room. Ted always finished the games very quickly and is a reigning high score champion on every game he plays. Caleb plays for the fun of it, but isn't as intuitive about the games as Ted. What Caleb is really good at is art, and he would make an excellent graphic novelist when he grows up. When Ted's great-uncle leaves the contents of his apartment to Ted, Caleb tags along to help sort through all the piles of stuff (think "Hoarders"), and also to see if there might be any old comic books around. They also get some unexpected help from the daughter of Mr. Gerson's boss. Since they have just moved into the area, the parents think it would be good to get the kids together and let Isabel make some friends before school starts.
Together these three kids get pulled into a dangerous situation involving WWII, the history of the Nisei Brigade, Nazi confiscation of artwork and valuables during the war, and the Monuments Men. With Ted's gaming expertise, Caleb's artistic talents, and Isabel's vast knowledge of history and literature, the friends must solve the puzzles left by Great-Uncle Ted and find the "treasure" he left behind. Everything from UV spy pens to lip gloss are used to find and access information that they need to complete their mission. Readers learn a lot about escape the room games, American history, and problem-solving long the way.
The author does a wonderful job of showing that the kids are just normal tweens, not super heroes. Ted's father is a typical absent-minded professor, his mom is a nurse, and they both worry that Ted spends to much time on his laptop playing games rather than focusing on school work. Caleb's parents are divorced (his father left his mother for a younger woman), and spends much of his time drawing super hero characters beating up a bad guy that looks remarkably like his dad. Isabel's mother passed away and her father took this new job at the college where Ted's father works so that they could make a fresh start in a new place without so many memories. There are no James Bond type spy gadgets, no psychic powers, just kids who have hobbies they enjoy and that just happen to come in handy during their adventure.
If you like the way the kids work together in Blue Balliett's books, the transfer of skills from video games to solving real life mysteries, or the mix of American history into a quest for valuable objects (a bit like "National Treasure"), then this is the perfect book for you.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
Escape room hi-jinks mixed with World War II family history make this a great read for those who love escape rooms and puzzles.
This book was just plain fun to read. I love a good escape room adventure, and it delivered. I laughed out loud at times because of the way the author captured the awkwardness of being twelve (authentic characters), and got a serious case of “Everyone leave me alone, I just want to read my book!” as I followed along with the suspense and mystery. All this and information about internment camps and Japanese-American heroes who served in World War II woven into the story for an engaging history lesson to boot. Highly recommend.
This was a pretty enjoyable mystery, with great WWII facts thrown in. The only thing I didn't like about it was Isabel. I felt like she was sort of inserted into the story so the author would have a female character, and she wasn't very likable or believable.