Key Hunters

Scholastic. They have the BEST selection of middle grade humorous fiction, hands down. They don't publish nearly as many of the sad, sad, sad books that are coming out. So why do I feel slightly conflicted about them? I'm less than fond of their book fairs (I never have enough in sales to get cash profit, and I don't need more paperback books) and I'm not wild about books that come out only in paperback. They will not last in my library. 

This series has some promise, but read like Mr. Luper was told to synopsize different genres as a general introduction for elementary students. The illustrations had that odd, Cartoon Network, computer generated vibe to them as well. Debating purchase, but would probably buy them right away for an elementary library. Do like the covers.  



Luper, Eric. The Mysterious Moonstone (Key Hunters #1)
April 26th 2016 by Scholastic 
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Cleo and Evan are hanging out in their school library even though the new librarian is mean. No one knows what has happened to the old librarian, but when the two venture behind a hidden panel, they find a secret library hidden under their school, and a note from their librarian that she is trapped in the pages of a book and must be rescued. The two then get sucked into a Victorian England/Sherlock Holmes type mystery where a diamond is missing. The mean librarian is there, playing a villain, and they must solve the mystery and get back home, hopefully with the nice librarian. They don't succeed this time, so are off on another mission with...


Luper, Eric. The Spy's Secret (Key Hunters #1)
April 26th 2016 by Scholastic 
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Cleo and Evan get involved in a mystery with Viper, an evil villain with henchman and an underwater lair. Again, the evil librarian shows up as one of the characters in the books, and we aren't entirely sure if she's evil or she plays those characters. She wants the key that Cleo and Evan have, but they refuse to give it to her until they find the nice librarian, which they don't do in this book. Maybe when they get to book three...


The Haunted Howl coming September 2016