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Celebrate Books with Chris Grabenstein’s Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics
I love libraries. I visit my local library multiple times a week, reading, writing, and working inside it. But libraries aren’t the quiet places I remember from my childhood: there are children running around crying, laughing, and squealing; librarians quoting Bon Jovi songs to actors sitting beside me, and people deep in conversation about books, films, and anything else you can imagine. Bookstores are generally the same way.
I guess what I’m saying is, libraries and bookstores are my jam and there are many stories to uncover within them. And if a book takes place inside of one (especially one that has smell-a-vision, talking holograms, and an arcade) you bet I’ll be first in line to read it. Chris Grabenstein’s Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics, the sequel to the thrilling Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, is a true celebration of books, and reminds us that libraries are not the stuffy places we might believe them to be.
After winning Mr. Lemoncello’s escape game at his famous library, Kyle and his teammates have reached celebrity status. They’re starring in commercials, signing autographs for adoring fans, and Haley is even off to Hollywood to take her newfound stardom to the next level. Fame, however, has its price, and soon, libraries across the country demand a rematch against Team Kyle. Meanwhile, the detestable Charles Chiltington, jealous of his former competitors’ win, decides that Luigi Lemoncello and his library are toast.
What ensues is the first ever Library Olympics, a duodecimalthon (that’s twelve games and note how it sounds just a liiittle like it’s from the dewey decimal system) that pits Team Kyle against the biggest library nerds in the country, including Marjory Muldauer from the midwest region, whom everyone agrees is scary good. These are kids who talk in dewey decimal numbers. They know their stuff.
What no one knows is that the games are about to bring out the best and worst in its competitors and shake the foundation of libraries to the core. Mr. Lemoncello is determined to find the real champion of libraries, especially against a new opposing force: The League of Concerned Library Lovers led by Charles’s mother, Mrs. Chiltington. The group is a band of self-proclaimed library lovers who really want to censor and ban books. Grabenstein uses the story to make a firm and powerful statement about censorship: libraries are an “arsenal of liberty” and we must uphold that freedom at all costs.
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But, of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun along the way. And this book is an exciting, wild-goose adventure, full of characters who will make you laugh out loud, quotes from books that kids will want to read, and puzzles and games set inside the library of anyone’s dreams. From library cart and shelving races to the science behind paper airplanes and flying pterodactyls, there are dewey decimal twisters and mix & match costume contests that celebrate the books we love.
Not only does Grabenstein include rebus puzzles for kids to figure out on their own, he challenges readers with one final riddle, and includes a master checklist of must-read books mentioned throughout the novel. This is a gripping, fast-paced, hilarious book for reluctant readers and book nerds alike. Like libraries themselves, the book is a welcome mat to enter into a world of reading, learning, and imagination.
As Grabenstein writes about the prospect of an empty library,
without people or laugher or learning the domed building was just a fancy tomb filled with dry and dusty books.
He reminds us of the many stories, adventures, and sense of community we can find inside a library, straight from the source.
Have you encountered Mr. Lemoncello’s library?