FINISHED:
Feldman, Jody. (2014). The Gollywhopper Games:  The new champion. New York: Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

[Being the middle of three boys in his family, Cameron is used to not getting very much attention, but his time in the limelight has arrived when he is chosen to participate in the 2^nd Gollywhopper Games.  Naturally, Cameron makes it through the preliminary rounds to snag a spot in the final games, and it is here that he has to work through a series of word puzzles and challenges that take place in the magical, and unbelievable, Golly Toy and Game Company Headquarters.  This sequel to Feldman’s own The Gollywhopper Games (Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 2008) lacks the punch and wonder of its predecessor, not giving the reader a full sense of the world she has previously created. The answers to some of the puzzles leads Cameron and the other contestants to specific toys in the Golly Toy catalogue… thus making them so that we have to follow along while Cameron solves them, without getting a fair chance to do so ourselves, which is half the fun of a book of this sort.  In addition, some of the tasks/puzzles are strictly physical and, quite often, unbelievable (an enormous, indoor “wasteland” of rocks, caves and ponds??) and difficult to visualize.  While there are valuable messages about honesty, which ends up getting Cameron more attention that if he had kept quiet and won the million dollar prize, and finding your place in your family dynamic, those who appreciated the first title will certainly find enough to like here, but they may need to wait until the (teased) third book in the series to find what they are truly craving.]


STARTED:
DiTerlizzi, Tony. (2014). The battle for WondLa. New York: Simon & Schuster.

[LOVE LOVE LOVE this series and push it on anyone and everyone who comes into the library.]


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