It's
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
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and #IMWAYR day
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Grabenstein, Chris. Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest
October 14, 2025 by Random House Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Netgalley
Benji Broderick lives with his family in Naperville, Illinois. His father, along with his two brothers, run a sporting goods store that they were inspired to start after a road trip the three took when they were in their late teens and early twenties. Benji and his brother, Evan, don't get along all that well. Evan is a football player who has just graduated from high school, and Benji prefers playing video games and working on puzzles. Hoping to encourage the same sort of camraderie that he had with his brothers, Evan and Benji's father make Evan an offer: if he will go on a road trip with Benji, he and Evan's mother will give Evan a truck that he can take to college. This still isn't enough, but once Aunt Caroline offers unlimited gas for four years, Evan is on board. While Benji would like to visit some Lincoln sites in Springfield, the two don't really have much of a plan, so decide to head to the Pancake Palace, where Benji has won a free meal after playing a video game at the movie theater. At the restaurant, Benji does well on a menu maze, and gets an invitation to a competition at Ms. Pennypickle's Emporium. Evan is reluctant until he finds that there is a huge prize. At the emporium, the brothers meet the other contestants, which include an older couple, an aunt and her niece, a boy their age and his father, and sisters Kaitlyn and Lily, who are roughly the boys' ages. The game calls for a lot of travel (with trackers on the cars so no one exceeds the speed limit), various competitions, and elimation of contestants. This is Benji's dream, and the fact that Ms. Pennypickle is footing the bill for meals and lodging doesn't hurt Evan's feelings. There's a pop drinking challenge at Pop's Soda Ranch, a visit to the Cadillac Ranch in Texas, and diving at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Along the way, alliances are formed, puzzles are solved, and there's even a bit of criminal mischief. When things go wrong, Benji and Evan have to decide how to wrap up their trip, but manage to pull together to make their time together worthwhile.
October 14, 2025 by Random House Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Netgalley
Benji Broderick lives with his family in Naperville, Illinois. His father, along with his two brothers, run a sporting goods store that they were inspired to start after a road trip the three took when they were in their late teens and early twenties. Benji and his brother, Evan, don't get along all that well. Evan is a football player who has just graduated from high school, and Benji prefers playing video games and working on puzzles. Hoping to encourage the same sort of camraderie that he had with his brothers, Evan and Benji's father make Evan an offer: if he will go on a road trip with Benji, he and Evan's mother will give Evan a truck that he can take to college. This still isn't enough, but once Aunt Caroline offers unlimited gas for four years, Evan is on board. While Benji would like to visit some Lincoln sites in Springfield, the two don't really have much of a plan, so decide to head to the Pancake Palace, where Benji has won a free meal after playing a video game at the movie theater. At the restaurant, Benji does well on a menu maze, and gets an invitation to a competition at Ms. Pennypickle's Emporium. Evan is reluctant until he finds that there is a huge prize. At the emporium, the brothers meet the other contestants, which include an older couple, an aunt and her niece, a boy their age and his father, and sisters Kaitlyn and Lily, who are roughly the boys' ages. The game calls for a lot of travel (with trackers on the cars so no one exceeds the speed limit), various competitions, and elimation of contestants. This is Benji's dream, and the fact that Ms. Pennypickle is footing the bill for meals and lodging doesn't hurt Evan's feelings. There's a pop drinking challenge at Pop's Soda Ranch, a visit to the Cadillac Ranch in Texas, and diving at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Along the way, alliances are formed, puzzles are solved, and there's even a bit of criminal mischief. When things go wrong, Benji and Evan have to decide how to wrap up their trip, but manage to pull together to make their time together worthwhile.
Strengths: When you, as an adult, pick up a book to read for fun (after a long day of work and being bludgeoned over the head with the horrible news of the world), do you pick up a book where the main character is struggling with the death of a loved one? I don't. I want something to take my mind off of things, not teach me Life Lessons. Evan and Benji DO learn some life lessons, but they also get to chug disgusting flavors of sodas, flirt with some girls, and travel across the US without their parents! This is the sort of book that would make an excellent gift and can be reread many times. Benji is a goofy Every Kid who is a bit jealous of his older brother but genuinely loves him and wants to spend time with him. Their parents and extended family are supportive; I LOVED the idea of the family sporting goods store and think there could have been an entire novel set THERE. Grabenstein's writing is always clear and concise, and he has some great moments of slapstick along with the bonding of the brothers. I am a fan of stand alones, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings if there were another book about Benji.
Weaknesses: Since I am always a planner, it was hard to believe that Evan and Benji would hit the road with no clearer plan than heading to the Grand Canyon, but that approach worked in their favor once Mrs. Picklepenny got involved. Also, I wish that Ms. Picklepenny's name (and also the title) wouldn't have been so goofy. This is an excellent middle grade road trip adventure, but the name makes it sound a bit twee.
What I really think: Even though Kaitlyn and Lily's mother had died and their father wasn't doing well, that does not figure largely in the story at all. Given the huge number of books I read over the summer that were about processing grief, Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest was a huge relief, and a rare, fun read. Fans of Grabenstein's 2013 Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library will definitely pick this one up, but readers who enjoyed the puzzles in newer titles like Currie's The Mystery of the Locked Rooms and Guterson's The World-Famous Nine or who want vicarious road trips like the ones in Reardon's Dad Rock Dragon Quest or Cartaya's A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation will be pleased with this as well.
Weaknesses: Since I am always a planner, it was hard to believe that Evan and Benji would hit the road with no clearer plan than heading to the Grand Canyon, but that approach worked in their favor once Mrs. Picklepenny got involved. Also, I wish that Ms. Picklepenny's name (and also the title) wouldn't have been so goofy. This is an excellent middle grade road trip adventure, but the name makes it sound a bit twee.
What I really think: Even though Kaitlyn and Lily's mother had died and their father wasn't doing well, that does not figure largely in the story at all. Given the huge number of books I read over the summer that were about processing grief, Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest was a huge relief, and a rare, fun read. Fans of Grabenstein's 2013 Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library will definitely pick this one up, but readers who enjoyed the puzzles in newer titles like Currie's The Mystery of the Locked Rooms and Guterson's The World-Famous Nine or who want vicarious road trips like the ones in Reardon's Dad Rock Dragon Quest or Cartaya's A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation will be pleased with this as well.
October 28, 2025 by Dial Books
Copy provided by the publisher
As someone who drinks more than my fair share of tea, I'm always glad to read about that particularly fortifying beverage in books like Nicey and Wifey's 2004 A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down or Perkins' new The Golden Necklace: A Darjeeling Tea Mystery. In fact, looking in vain on my local library's website for a history of tea that I read a few years ago, I came across a large numbers of books involving tea that I really want to read.
Picture books are harder to find, other than another favorite, Hoban's 1970 A Bargain for Francis, which is really more about the tea set. My grandson is being raised in (gasp!) a household of coffee drinkers, so Tea is Love is a perfect book to read on repeat to reinforce the idea that a nice cuppa should be the preferred drink.
This starts with the line "Tea is a plant", which is something I try to think more about. We then see, in lushly illustrated panels, how tea is served in different places of the world. Tea is shown being prepared by children watching an online video on how to make matcha, and even shows up with children in an online class and at a wedding. My favorite panels are probably the ones illustrating "Tea is a cozy morning", and "Tea is a warm hug", in which a little girl prepares chai and takes it in a thermos to a neighbor. All of these show the main assertion of the book, which is "Tea is love".
This put me in mind a bit of Gilbert O'Sullivan's Where Would We Be (Without Tea) video that came out a few years back, although the illustrations are MUCH better. Cha's pictures have a very cozy feeling, with strong black outlines and warm browns and yellows. These strong backgrounds make the wispy lines of the steam coming off various cups of tea stand out even more. There is a nice variety of locations and types of tea, but the constant is hands holding warm cups.
An author's note talks a bit about the history of tea, and its importance in other cultures. It was slightly surprising that the enormous role tea plays in British culture is not discussed, but that is no doubt due to the problematic colonial history.
Brew a cup of your favorite tea to share with a little one while reading Waissbluth ond O'Byrne's Teatime Around the World, Miyakoshi's Tea Party in the Woods, and Gu's Bitter Tea and Rock Candy and perhaps munching on a biscuit or cookie. I'll keep Tea is Love on hand for when I dust off my copy of Kirk's Miss Spider's Tea Party and my mother's Akro Agate tea set for my grandson's first tea party.
Both of these sound great! I really enjoyed Grabenstein's short story I read recently in a middle grade mystery anthology. He infuses humor into everything he writes, which appeals to kids and adults as well. I'm a huge fan of tea, so that book sounds intriguing too!
ReplyDeletePuzzlequest is one I will have to read. I too have been reading way too much about death and grief in middle grade books. Hope this one puts a smile on my face. Happy MMGM!
ReplyDeleteI love Chris Grabenstein and his fun books! Thanks for pointing this title out.
ReplyDeleteI wish my students loved Chris Grabenstein and fun, puzzly books as much as I wish they did! But I'll get this one and see what they think :)
ReplyDeleteHappy reading this week!