By Awnali Mills
William Wenton is a code-breaking genius, but nobody can know that. His family is in hiding because of something that happened to his grandfather—but nobody will talk about that. Still, William can’t resist solving The Impossible Puzzle, a game that’s been challenging people around the globe. And as soon as William solves it, his life goes into a tailspin. Suddenly there are robots after him as well as an evil genius, and he’s whisked away to The Institute, a place filled with astonishing robots and other aspiring code-breakers. But William doesn’t know who to trust, and if he hopes to find his grandfather, he’d better figure it out fast.
This book was a head spinning dash through an undercover world full of strange robots (really? An argue-bot?). The plot (what there was of it) was full of twists and turns and confusion. There wasn’t a whole lot of character development—there simply wasn’t time, what with stair climbing robots, an old lady with a hummingbird who splits into two chauffeurs, and a door that announces visitors. To say nothing of robot/plant hybrids that are all trying to eat William. Peers kept introducing elements that I thought would be meaningful, but…no. Things kept morphing into other things, and I finally just gave up trying to make sense of what was going on. I slogged to the end, but would have a hard time recommending the book to anyone other than a child who insisted on constant action but didn’t care about story.
The Librarian Is on The Loose 