Review Detail

What I Liked: Brandon Sanderson’s ability to integrate the silly into a story enhances this series and makes it all the more appealing for Middle-Grade readers each time.
My family enjoyed the chapter names this go around. It went from chapter 2 to chapter 6 with a quick explanation of what boring things happened in the missing chapters and why he threw them out. I especially loved the nod to Star Trek with the chapter titled NCC-1701. Chapter names are usually boring and overlooked - not usually a point of note in a review, but the naming schema definitely created a few giggles in this book. I like that he continues to take the construct of writing and highlight aspects of it while telling the story. The portion where he just summarized quickly to point out how boring that is to do emphasizes every teacher’s point when they harp on their students to show and don’t tell.
I also enjoyed the deadly weapon of choice, the teddy bear. Alcatraz and friends use this deadly tool to great effect while saving Mokia from the Librarian invasion. We got to meet Alcatraz’s cousin Aydee Ecks which led to a quick google search trying to find which prison name that is a reference for. Her ability to do math badly helps save the day.
There is an underlying note of seriousness when Alzatraz begins to put the pieces together over the nature of the Smedry talents and how they are twisted due to meddling from the Incarna people in ancient times. He is thrown through a loop when he realizes the scope of his father’s vision and how supporting him may actually be terrible and helping his villainous mother, a librarian, may actually be the correct choice. It would lead to a great class discussion on the nature of information and the right to access it.
Final Verdict: This series is quickly being devoured by my child who wants to read it cover to cover as quickly as possible which is always a great sign that it is well-written for the target audience.