Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics

After winning Luigi Lemoncello’s game to escape the library, Kyle Keeley and his teammates found themselves featured in commercials for a variety of Luigi Lemoncello-created games. Every kid wanted to be Kyle Keeley, and they began writing to Mr. Lemoncello who, after receiving a million requests from children around the country, invented the first-ever Library Olympics in order to widen the Lemoncello Library Experience. This “duodecimalthon,” comprised of twelve library-themed games, will have teams from around the country competing in the Alexandria, Ohio Lemoncello Library for Library Olympic honors.

But suspiciously-acting contestants and disappearing books jeopardize the Library Olympics. Can Kyle and company save the day? Or show more does this spell the end of the Lemoncello Library itself?

Filled with puzzles, puns, and an amazing slew of book references, this tale clearly celebrates books, reading, libraries, and the right to read. References to banned books provide another level of engagement by challenging readers to find the banned book quotes throughout the narrative. The quick pace and twisty plot will keep all readers, kids and adults alike, page-turning through the inevitable surprises all the way to the satisfying ending.

Highly recommended. show less

"Knowledge can be a very powerful and, for some, frightening thing. Especially when that knowledge is shared."

I thought this started slowly for me, but I really began to enjoy it as I read further.

This made me think of those who oppose libraries, and how we have to fight for our right to knowledge and the freedom to select books, including banned ones.

we all had a lot of fun with this. there were moments that were sort of dad-joke groan-y but mostly this was a fun adventure that was silly and sometimes clever.

After their big win in Mr. Lemoncello's escape game, Team Keeley is challenged by basically every kid in the country. They all want their chance at stardom (starring in commercials for Mr. Lemoncello games) and are unhappy that the contest was so localized. So Mr. Lemoncello grants them their wish, because hey, that means he gets to create more games! The top teams in each region of the country are chosen and invited to Ohio to compete for full college scholarships--against Kyle's team. The only problem is that Kyle isn't so sure he's up to the challenge this time.

After the pure fun I had with the first book, I knew this wouldn't be able to be quite the same. For one thing, it's not so much with the escape room aspect anymore. There are show more puzzles involved in the games, but it's not nearly the same as it was in the first book. However, it's still a fun read, and even has a bit of mystery. So while I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I did the first book in the series, it was still good.

For all the similarities to Willy Wonka in the first book, this had even more. Including a particular bit that I guessed at from early on, comparing a character to a role in Roald Dahl's book. Even still, though, the book did keep me guessing a bit as I waited to see if I was right. And unlike the "justice" in Wonka's world, it's nice to see some of the "bad" kids have a change of heart by the end of this book.

In my review of the first book, I mentioned that it was unrealistic how much knowledge some of these kids have--Kyle is about the only one who doesn't come across like he lives and breathes books and studying. That was much more noticeable this time. Still overall, it's a good book, fun for kids, and I continue to recommend it for kids around 8-12 and for parents, especially those who like games. show less

Synopsis: In Book 1 Kevin and his friends escaped Mr. Lemoncello's Library and became product spokesmen for his products. But, kids all over the country are crying foul. They are sure they could have beat Kevin and his friends if given a chance. So, Mr. Lemoncello creates the Library Olympics where the biggest booklovers of the USA are chosen to compete against Kevin and his team to become Library Champions.

My rating: 5/5

I have to confess that my rating is mostly because the book is so much fun to read. This is a well written enough book but for me it was my personal enjoyment that lends itself to a five star rating.

Like the first book, this book is just written for booklovers. It references so many books I am familiar with and show more concerns that are on book conscious people's minds. I don't want to delve too deeply into this because it could move into spoiler territory but I will say that banned books play an important role in the story and I could not have loved how that was handled more.

As with the first, this book has a very Willy Wonka vibe to the fun. I would even say more so this time than last. These parallels led me to guessing the books twist early on. Though that did not in any way impair my enjoyment of the book. I loved what the twist was. It was really fun and well done.

One thing I will mention is that this series should be read in order so you should not read this one before the last one or many elements will not make sense.

There were more characters in this book but since I knew the characters from the last book I didn't feel overwhelmed by the new ones we meet. The cast is fairly large though because you have so many people competing. Only a few become important enough in the game for us to really get to know though. But that is one reason I would not pick this book up before reading book 1. There are just too many characters if you don't already have a grasp on who is who.

The only thing negative I will say about this book was that the start was a bit slow. I wasn't as interested in the stuff leading up to the Olympics as I was in the actual Olympics. So, the announcement of the Olympics and the choosing of competing teams made the pacing in the start of this book a bit slow. But, once I got past that I was totally invested in the book and loved it enough that the first little bit of the story being slow was forgivable.

I highly recommend this series to book lovers and especially for children who are around 9 or 10 and obsessed with books. My kids are a bit young for it now but it is a series I hope we return to when they get older. show less

Welcome back to Mr. Lemoncello’s library. A new batch of games are about to begin. The kids from the original game arel back, but some people in the nation are upset. They are upset that they did not get a chance to take place in the original escape, because they know for sure that they could have won. Why should the Hometown team get all the accolades, commercial contracts, and special libraries?

There has been so much public comment, that Lemoncello brought the games back and made it a national effort. Now 8 teams of 4 from across the national will converge on Alexandriaville, Ohio, to prove once and for all, who is the best librarian olympian. Even better? The winner gets an all expenses paid college scholarship to anywhere they show more want to go (and new girl Marjory Muldauer knows exactly how much her Harvard tuition will be).

But all the teams better be careful. The League of Concerned Library Lovers (headed by Chillington’s mommy) is out to stop the games, and turn the library into a stuffy place full of only “approved” books and silence. And there are some team members who think that is how it should be as well. A library shouldn’t have fancy technology, holograms, or educational video games, only books that fit into what certain people think should read.

Overall I really like this book and enjoy the adventure. Kids appreciating books and learning. Plus the author name drops other authors like they are his best friends (and all us readers know that books can be your best friend). The book is pretty predictable. If you have read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or seen the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, you pretty much know how this will play out. This story is all about the ride and this ride is enjoyable.

The only things I don’t really care for is that part about the League of Concerned Library Lovers and their views. It’s not for their views, its for their supposations. As a librarian, I realize that library law in other states differs from that of Illinois and Colorado, but I can tell you this. If this library was in Illinois, the LCLL would be easy to handle. Since Mr. Lemoncello pays for everything in the library, the staff, etc, himself, the library is a publicly open private business or non-profit. That means that a group like the LCLL would have no chance to take it over and make it how they want. Just because “public” is in the name, does not in essence make it a “public” library. This would be a privately endowed library, that can create its own rules and be as crazy, and fun as it wants to be.

That is the only thing I can think to say bad about this book. And it’s not wrong, it just may be that I am adult in the library world, who knows that not all states have the same rules, payment scheme, etc for libraries. So therefore I am grieving adult stuff, and this book is meant for kids.

But hey, just because it’s meant for kids does not mean adults will not enjoy it too. This would be a great read aloud for any age. And with a full list of every book mentioned within in the pack, you will have plenty of suggestions to keep you and your little readers busy all year long.

Plus, don’t you want to find out if the Hometown Heroes win? show less

A good follow-up to the original, Library Olympics addresses some of the things that annoyed me in the last book. Of course kids everywhere would be jealous that Kyle and his friends got this awesome adventure while they didn't even get a chance; even Kyle's friends find him annoying sometimes (now if only people found Sierra and her know-it-all, pretentious attitude annoying too...); Haley, who wasn't the best character, isn't even in this one; everyone gets a chance to show off their hard-earned skills and contribute (the medal competitions were really interesting, and while sometimes the winner was clear, other times it was fun to find out).

The character development was a little lacking again, though. Kyle's still the same show more hyper-competitive sore loser, Michael (or Miguel?) and Akira have no traits other than "supportive best friend," and new "villain" Marjorie is too much of a stick in the mud to be believable as a pre-teen (someone that age, even as obsessed with Dewey Decimal numbers as her, would not have nearly as many objections to the library as she does - they're very much the objections of an older adult).

The twist reminded me of The Westing Game a little, and I'm always a sucker for a fun mystery. show less