Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics

Grabenstein, Chris. Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics
5 January 2016, Random House Children's Books
Copy provided by publisher

So many children thought that they should have beat Kyle's team in the original Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, and many are jealous of the children's subsequent fame. Kyle starts to wonder if he really should have won. When Mr. Lemoncello decides that he will have another competition, with children from all over the US and not just Alexandriaville, Ohio, Kyle really starts to worry. Charles Chiltington and her mother are still angry, and form a committee to help run the new library in the way that THEY think is proper. Miguel, Sierra, and Akimi are all back on board to be on Kyle's team, but he is beset by anxiety, especially when the Dewey Decimal fluent Marjory Muldauer looks like she might be able to win the competition. When books crucial to the game go missing, the committee thinks that Lemoncello's ability to curate the collection is sorely lacking, and that the hover ladders and holographic librarians are just gimmicks that get in the way of a properly run town library. Can Kyle and his team locate the books and find out who was taking them before it's too late?

Strengths: Certainly, this was too cool a library to leave forever, so it's great to revisit all of the fun and innovative library technology (pterodactyls, anyone?).There are lots of puzzles to figure out, tons of Dewey Decimal categories discussed, and many classic and new books referenced. There are even quite a number of real people mentioned in the book; luckily, Colby Sharp was mentioned as a language arts teacher early on, which alerted me to this fact. Very fun!
Weaknesses: I'm not a fan of puzzles, and this book seemed to center more on those, and the slight mystery of the missing books, rather than Kyle's development as a character or the library's importance to the town.
What I really think: The first book was fantastic, so readers will be waiting for this sequel.