The (Super Secret) Octagon Valley Society

by Melissa de la Cruz

Overview

This new series from #1 New York Times best-selling author Melissa de la Cruz is The Mysterious Benedict Society for reluctant readers, chockful of humor, adventure and mischief, and set at an exclusive, secluded, high-tech institute everyone wants to get into.

You only get in if you're EXTRAordinary....

After passing an intense exam, Edwin Edgefield becomes one of the lucky few to attend an exclusive weekend at the mysterious high-tech institute of the uber-famous-ultrabazillionaire-genius-recluse Onasander Octagon. Edwin hopes he’ll meet other kids like him—kids who will accept him even though he’s got a photographic memory, genius-level math skills, and some very specific personality quirks. But when he meets the other misfits (um, students), he starts to wonder if they’re all in the right place. There’s amateur rapper Li’l Kimmy, violin prodigy Julie, video game–obsessed Anton, teacher’s pet Ting-Ting, mean girl Maureen, and surfer dude Dilip. And we’re not even going to talk about Harold.

Are you sitting down? Because this is when things get really weird. Octagon’s weekend events include an escape-room challenge, a zero-gravity chamber, a river full of piranhas, and . . . some ninjas?

Surviving Octagon Valley may require these outcasts to embrace their inner weird and become greater together than they ever could separately. Those who rise to the wacky occasion will be treated to the biggest, most spectacular surprise of their lives—a chance to be truly EXTRAordinary!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781368083744
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/05/2023
Series:	Octagon Valley , #1
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	55,970
Product dimensions:	5.78(w) x 8.52(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Melissa de la Cruz (www.melissa-delacruz.com) is the author of the #1 New York Times best-selling Descendants series, as well as many other best-selling novels, including Alex & Eliza, the Never After series and the Blue Bloods series. She recently launched her own imprint, Melissa de la Cruz Studio, which publishes fun, fabulous, feel-good stories for children. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

07/24/2023

De la Cruz (the Chronicles of Never After series) marries a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory plot with a Nickelodeon adventure vibe in this entertaining series opener. Following a nationwide assessment of American sixth graders, eight are invited to Montana’s prestigious Octagon Valley Institute for a three-day summit of lectures and workshops—“It’s like winning a golden ticket to the rest of your life.” From across the country, the eight students of intersectionally diverse backgrounds gather, ready to discover the top-secret, cutting-edge projects in development. Upon their arrival, though, the Institute’s enigmatic multiracial founder, Onasander Octagon, informs them that they must participate in one more assessment. It’s a scavenger hunt through the compound’s most top-secret areas, and it will require both teamwork and individual aptitude. While solving puzzles and defeating increasingly dangerous challenges, such as a room with slowly closing walls and a piranha-filled river, several of the children discover new angles to their strengths and weaknesses. But when they perceive the true secret behind the weekend’s activities, it reframes their perceptions of themselves and the Institute. An energetic omniscient narrator utilizes self-aware humor to keep things moving, while rotating perspectives allow insight into the cast members’ personalities and motivations. With its fast pace and imaginative scenarios, this novel has plenty of appeal. Ages 8–12. Agent: Richard Abate, 3Arts Entertainment. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2023-06-08
Eight singular middle schoolers from across America find belonging in a series of escape room–type challenges.

Each sixth grader assumes that winning a coveted spot to spend three days at the Octagon Valley Institute led by Willy Wonka–esque Onasander Octagon, an ethnically ambiguous multiracial tech genius, means winning a “golden ticket to the rest of your life.” However, they soon realize that instead of an academic conference, they will each have to utilize their particular skills to find eight puzzle pieces in a high-stakes scavenger hunt. They face a pool of piranhas! A magical maze! Navigating the multiverse! But how can they work together when they each have powerful psychological defense mechanisms to combat fear, even if it’s just the fear of being wrong? Only when they accept their emotions, take chances, and face their vulnerabilities do they overcome obstacles, discover hidden talents, and learn how to be teammates—and even friends. The eight kids’ diverse personalities offer a wide range of connection opportunities for readers. The omniscient third-person narrator ingeniously blends snarky humor, lessons in emotion regulation, and nuggets of wisdom throughout, though readers may miss some references that read adult. The kids are ethnically diverse; some are white, and others have families who are Jamaican, Filipino, Korean, or Indian. They also represent neurodiversity and struggles with anxiety.

A series opener that successfully combines emotional intelligence and page-turning adventure. (Adventure. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews