Eric Luper

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? show more 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. show less

Description
Futuristic Technology they don’t understand, and a growing oppression that is staged as a necessary good – this could be Cleo and Evan’s most dangerous adventure yet.

In the Magical Library beneath their school, Cleo and Evan have lived out numerous stories through the books housed there. But when a Key Hunter from another Magical Library, a sloth, and a giant tree come back with them from their last book adventure, something is wrong.

They soon find out that things are more show more interconnected than they seem. Will the next book they enter help set things straight, or at least answer some of their questions?

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
Like most of the books in this series (read my review of book 1 here), the story is fast paced from beginning to end. I enjoyed the new world, the story lines that it created and the questions it raised. And I loved some specific lines that communicated valuing and respecting others.

Return characters’ backgrounds continue to develop, and actions played off of their strengths and weaknesses. There was a host of new characters brought in with the world of the new story, while they were interesting and definitely necessary, I felt like they were a little under formed – I would have liked to have had a little more interaction with them.

It seems like this is the last book in the series (thought is there were more, I would definitely read them), and it’s a good series ending. I feel like this book mirrored book #4, The Wizard’s War a lot (read the review here). There is one major story line that is resolved, but doing so opens up more. And I have questions at the end that I don’t think will be answered, but I’m OK with that.

While the ending seemed a little rushed, and there were a few parts where I questioned the ability of a character to do something, Luper does a great job of packing a while lot of story into a short book without making huge sacrifices.

Overall, this is another fun read. The series is exciting and I love how each book ventures into a different type of story. I would definitely recommend giving it a read, even for just some quick entertainment if you’re an adult reader. show less

Description
With no experience or training, Cleo and Evan must rescue a top spy from a skilled criminal mastermind.

Just a few days ago, in a secret library under their school, Cleo and Evan were pulled into the story of a book. They had to live the story out to return home, and today they’re doing it again. Now, their role is as secret agents – not the best and not even accomplished, but simply the closest to the case. Armed only with a few spy gadgets, they must figure out how to find show more and rescue a captured top agent, all while working towards the story’s proper end so they don’t get trapped in the book.

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
This is advertised as appealing to 2nd -4th Graders, and being at the 3rd Grade reading level, I would read it to kids as young as 3.

I picked up this book after thoroughly enjoying reading the first in this series with out kids (read my review of The Mysterious Moonstone here), and I was not disappointed. The story starts out fast paced, and doesn’t really slow down until the end. Repeat characters are developed more as was hinted at in the first book, and more hints are dropped that they will continue to develop as the series progresses. Also, possibly difficult or new words are explained casually without breaking the story line.

One of my favorite things with this book, and with the first book too, is that Cleo and Evan are integral to the story. They are involved in the story line, make active decisions, and aren’t just taken for a ride. This is really shown in a few spots where their individual strengths (Evan’s book smarts, and Cleo’s impulsive, active reactions) are needed to solve specific problems.

Another thing that I really appreciate in this book: Evan cries. That may sound weird to like, but bear with me. It’s written as a simple fact, and the reader can understand his emotion behind it – it’s not an extreme jump for him, so it’s not written as dramatic or cheesy. I feel like this is a wonderful example of a boy’s emotions being seen and accepted instead of brushed past or made comical. Evan is a strong character; he is intelligent, funny, brave, a good friend, and he has emotions. (NOTE: I have previously written a review where I disliked a character’s crying. I feel like it’s all in how the characters’ emotions are presented, are they swinging erratically, are they without context, are they depicted in a weak or comical light, etc.?)

There are a few things that didn’t quite work for me with this book, but nothing crazy. The villain’s motive wasn’t incredibly strong, and Ms. Crowley, their new librarian, seems to just want to be mean, those combined made the negative forces a little lack luster. It was also a little predictable and a few spots were kind of cliché, but I feel like some of that comes with the spy story category.

Overall, the kids and I enjoyed this one, would definitely recommend it, and will continue to check out the remaining books in the series. show less

Seth Baumgartner’s Love Manifesto by Eric Luper is realistic teen fiction. In the first few pages, Seth Baumgartner gets dumped by his girlfriend, sees his father out to lunch at Applebee’s with a woman who is not his mother, and loses his fourth job of the summer. Out of this mess, Seth starts producing his own podcast, which he calls “The Love Manifesto”. As the summer progresses, Seth tries to sort everything out but — as you might guess! — ends up digging himself into a show more deeper and deeper hole. I really enjoyed reading this one; the characters are so real, and though the story may not go where you think it’s going all the time, you realize once it gets there that it’s the right place for it to be. I especially liked Dimitri and his additions to the English language! show less