The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin

It all started with a box. A wooden box. A simple but thoughtful gift for his little sister's birthday. What he didn't realize was the hidden compartment in the bottom of the box that held three wooden strips with letters.

A puzzle.

Winston is a puzzle fanatic. He loves word puzzles, number puzzles, logic puzzles, even creating puzzles. So when these puzzle pieces stump him, everyone is a bit surprised.

Then, it is discovered that the wooden strips are actually clues to a treasure left behind by a prominent business man to his children who refused to talk to each other. However, the children also refused to work together to find the treasure. Now it is years later and all the siblings have died, except one. Their chips are in the possession of a couple treasure hunters. And everyone wants to find the treasure.

Will they find it? Will they solve the puzzle of a lifetime?

What I Thought:
Super fun book! I read the second book about Winston a while back, when I didn't realize this one existed. So this book went right on the list.

Winston is a great character who loves puzzles and the neatest thing about this book is that every puzzle Winston solves or comes across is included in the book to solve right along with Winston. If you don't want to write in your book, you can go to a website and print out the puzzles to work. (And please, don't write in the book if it is a library copy!)

The story has a perfect mix of mystery, suspense, and even a bit of danger. And of course...puzzles!

Overall, a great book. Give to any tween who likes mysteries and anyone who likes to solve puzzles.

Recommended.


Want to see more? Check it out on Amazon: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin.

Reviewed from a library copy.

The Potato Chip Puzzles by Eric Berlin

Winston Breen loves puzzles, all kinds of puzzles. He makes up puzzles when he is bored, he can find a puzzle out of just about anything!

One day Winston is called into the principal's office to help figure out a puzzle, which is actually an invitation to participate in a day long contest full of puzzles and a chance to win $50,000 for his school.

On the day of the competition, the team is so excited and their teacher/supervisor is all business with high expectations. The day starts off rocky...with a flat tire and delays. With a contest that is built like a scavenger hunt full of puzzles any delay is costly!

As the day goes on, several of the teams are neck and neck. But something is strange...could there be a cheater amongst the groups?

What I Thought:
This is definitely a very fun concept for a novel. It has a very fun story as the players rush all around town looking for and solving puzzles as well as a sense of mystery and detective work as Winston and his team try to find the cheater.

But the unique part of the story is the many puzzles that are included in the book for the readers to work along with the characters. Every puzzle that Winston works in the book is available for the reader to work.

This book is perfect for fans of the Blue Balliet series that include codes, Chasing Vermeer, The Wright 3 and The Calder Game. There is another book written about Winston called The Puzzling World of Winston Breen, it is actually the first book in this new series and I hope to get my hands on it soon.

One note, the puzzles are available to do right in the book. In the foreword, the author directs readers to a website where they can print out the puzzles if they don't want to write in the book. As a librarian in a public library, I'm kind of worried that someone will work these puzzles in the book and ruin the fun for future readers. I'm working on a way to prevent this from happening...maybe putting some laminate over the puzzles with a note to print the puzzles from the internet to work. (Which is a 29 page document! That's a lot of puzzles!)

Overall, a super book.

Highly Recommended.

Want to see more? Check it out on Amazon: The Potato Chip Puzzles by Eric Berlin

Roscoe Riley Rules #4: Never Swim in Applesauce by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by Brian Biggs

What has Roscoe done now to land him in time-out?

Well, it all began when his teacher told his class they were going on a field trip to an apple farm! He was so excited, and managed to borrow his sister's crazy eight ball, which he often consulted to make sure the trip would be fun.

And it was, until the class went on a tour of how applesauce is made...

You'll have to read it to find out what happens...but I'll just say it is very messy!

What I Thought:
I love this series! I think Roscoe is just adorable and his books are simply delightful. They are funny, packed with action (well, first grade action!), a little innocent mischief and a good lesson.

A great book, a wonderful series, perfect for the beginning independent reader or a read aloud.

Highly recommended.

Want to see more? Check it out on Amazon: Roscoe Riley Rules #4: Never Swim in Applesauce by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by Brian Biggs

You know I love a series when I reviewed every book in the series thus far, and anticipate the next release! Check out other reviews for Roscoe Riley Rules here: Number 1, Number Two, and Number Three.

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

When Vermeer’s painting A Lady Writing comes up missing, Calder and Petra, sixth grade classmates put together a number of clues and coincidences to find the priceless painting while clearing the names of their teacher, neighbor, and friend. Calder is fascinated by patterns and always has his set of pentominos, which seems to guide them by enlightening him with words that spark their actions. He even corresponds with his friend Tommy by code in a letters that must be decoded to read. Petra is a gifted young lady who comes across a book entitled Lo! By Charles Fort, which discusses a number of odd events that have happened in the world at various times but seem to be connected. A woman in the painting who seems to be guiding the duo to her fascinates Petra. Throw in an eccentric teacher who sparks free thinking, curiosity and discovery and you have story that will be hard to put down.

What I Thought:
What a fun book! What makes this book even more interesting is the "secret code" that is inserted throughout the text that the reader must decode to grasp a portion of the story. (The code key is given in the book.) Fans of The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin or The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Franweiler by E.L. Konisburg will devour this book.

I'm excited to read the next two books: Wright Three and Calder Game.

Want to see more? Check it out on Amazon: Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett.