The mystery of locked rooms

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Title:

The mystery of locked rooms

Author:

Currie, Lindsay, author.

ISBN:

9781728259536

Physical Description:

247 pages ; 22 cm

Subject Term:

Treasure hunting -- Fiction.

Detective and mystery stories.

Escape room games -- Fiction.

Treasure hunt (Game) -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Mystery and detective stories.

Genre:

Detective and mystery fiction.

Mystery fiction.

Summary:

"Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene wants nothing more from her seventh-grade year than to beat the hardest escape room left in her town with her best friends, West, and Hannah. But when a foreclosure notice shows up on Sarah's front door, everything changes. Since her father became ill two years ago, things have been bad, but not lose your house bad . . . until now. Sarah feels helpless until the day Hannah mentions a treasure rumored to be hidden in the walls of an abandoned funhouse. According to legend, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein were orphaned at eight years old and lived with different families until they were able to reunite as adults. Their dream was to build the most epic funhouse in existence. They wanted their experience to be more than mirror mazes and optical illusions, so they not only created elaborate riddles and secret passages, but they also claimed to have hidden a treasure inside the funhouse. Once in, Sarah, West, and Hannah realize the house is unlike any escape room they've attempted. There are challenges, yes, but they feel personal. Like the triplets knew who would get in. It seems impossible, but so does everything about the house. As soon as they're in she immediately worries that attempting the funhouse is a bad idea but Sarah has no choice but to continue, since her future is at stake"--Publisher.

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Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	J FICTION CUR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	J FICTION CUR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	J FICTION CUR	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

*Instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller!*

Crack the codes. Find the treasure. Escape the house.

From the acclaimed author of Scritch Scratch and What Lives in the Woods comes a action-packed adventure novel about three friends who team up to find a hidden treasure in an abandoned 1950's funhouse.

Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene wants nothing more from her seventh-grade year than to beat the hardest escape room left in her town with her best friends, West, and Hannah. But when a foreclosure notice shows up on Sarah's front door, everything changes. Since her father became ill two years ago, things have been bad, but not lose your house bad...until now.

Sarah feels helpless until the day Hannah mentions a treasure rumored to be hidden in the walls of an abandoned funhouse. According to legend, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein were orphaned at eight years old and lived with different families until they were able to reunite as adults. Their dream was to build the most epic funhouse in existence. They wanted their experience to be more than mirror mazes and optical illusions, so they not only created elaborate riddles and secret passages, but they also claimed to have hidden a treasure inside the funhouse.

Once in, Sarah, West, and Hannah realize the house is unlike any escape room they've attempted. There are challenges, yes, but they feel personal. Like the triplets knew who would get in. It seems impossible, but so does everything about the house. As soon as they're in she immediately worries that attempting the funhouse is a bad idea but Sarah has no choice but to continue, since her future is at stake.

Author Notes

Lindsay lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and three kids. She loves coffee, Halloween, Disney World and things that go bump in the night! She is the author of Scritch Scratch, What Lives in the Woods, The Girl in White, It Found Us and The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street. Visit her online at lindsaycurrie.com

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4--8--Locked rooms filled with secret passages, puzzles, and codes create challenges for friends West, Hannah, and Sarah, or as they call themselves, the Deltas. As the story opens, they have just become the first team of mystery solvers to beat the escape room at Lasers and Lava in record time. While riding high on that victory, they begin discussing a long-since abandoned fun house built by a set of triplets many decades ago. Legend has it that treasure awaits the person who manages to escape from it. Treasure is just what Sarah needs now. Since her dad isn't able to work anymore, and her mom can't work enough, their house is being foreclosed on and they will probably have to move. With that motivation, the Deltas decide that they could take on the challenge of the fun house and find the treasure that will keep them together. Upon arriving at the house, Sarah finds the first clue and their way inside. Once in, they must solve puzzles, decipher codes, and escape from one room after another. But the challenges start, becoming more personal and sinister, leaving the Deltas to wonder who planned these, and how to break free. These twists and turns will keep readers rapidly turning the pages to find out if the trio successfully escapes. VERDICT With highly likable characters, authentic dialogue, and tension-building action, this exciting and engaging story will grab the attention of many readers who will not put it down until the end. Highly recommended for all libraries.--Laura Fields Eason

Publisher's Weekly Review

Seventh grader Sarah and her two best friends West and Hannah call themselves the Deltas for their love of puzzles. Their unique and perfectly balanced individual skills aid in their team efforts to solve even the hardest of escape room riddles. Because of their friendship, Sarah--who arrived in Park Glen three years ago--finally feels like she belongs. But when her father is diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and her mother, who is working two jobs, can't make ends meet, Sarah's family faces possible foreclosure on their home, meaning they might have to move if they can't get the money they need, and fast. To help, West and Hannah propose hunting for an alleged treasure left in an abandoned 1950s funhouse built on the outskirts of town by triplets who vacated the lot after one of them died young. In this page-turning thriller, Currie (It Found Us) builds suspense via high-stakes brain teasers in dark rooms and periods of isolation as the Deltas endeavor to solve the biggest, most dangerous series of escape rooms they've ever faced. Sarah reads as white; supporting characters are racially diverse. Ages 8--12. Agent: Shannon Hassan, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Apr.)

Kirkus Review

"Like three sides of the same triangle, none of us can imagine what life would be like if we weren't together." Sarah, West, and Hannah have been an intrepid trio since they first met. They bring their passion for math and numbers and their perfectly aligned strengths to solving escape rooms. With a foreclosure looming on Sarah's family home--which would mean moving to live with her grandparents in Michigan--the only solution is to seek out the rumored Triplet Treasure belonging to Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein. The treasure is supposedly hidden in a long-abandoned fun house they built in the 1950s. To outmaneuver the triplets' ingenious riddles and tricks, the friends will need to overcome personal obstacles and unlock the doors within themselves. While the stakes are high, it's reassuring for readers to know that Sarah's family has a place to go, even if it's far away from her friends. Early chapters detail the health challenges faced by Sarah's father; his chronic illness has placed a strain on the family's finances. Currie sets up a moving metaphor: Sarah's enthusiasm for escape rooms becomes a means of tackling the unsolvable puzzle that has left her parent confined to his own inescapable room. This topic is treated with a gentle touch, but Sarah's emotional depths could have been explored more deeply; West's and Hannah's emotional arcs are fulfilling, however. Main characters read white. A riddling, sporting adventure and a story of true friendship. (Mystery. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Twelve-year-old Sarah never really fit in. That is, until she met West and Hannah, the other members of her best-friend group known as the Deltas. Their love of math and escape rooms drew them together, and when Sarah finds out her home is being foreclosed on and she'll have to move away from the only people who've ever understood her, she hopes their shared skills can bail her family out. How? There's a local legend of a treasure hidden in an abandoned funhouse, and Sarah sees that treasure as the answer to all her family's problems. Currie has a light touch with heavy issues, such as coping with a parent who has a chronic illness and financial instability, while also exploring problems such as personal insecurity and the strength needed to be honest and vulnerable with the people you care about. This page-turner with touching character moments makes a fun read for anyone who enjoys puzzle solving, escape rooms, and books centered around the power of friendship.

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

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