Bound To Stay Bound

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School Library Journal - 03/01/2017 Gr 4–6—Rational and risk-averse Sebastian is challenged by the director of the madcap Explorers Society to do something he shouldn't: steal a box. The contents of the box relate in some way to Evie, an orphan who lives at a school but regularly dines with a very boring couple known as the Andersons. One night, two dangerous men burst into the Andersons' house in pursuit of a key. The two children find themselves caught up in a perilous chase involving Evie's grandfather and a group of explorers known as the Filipendulous Five. This is a rollicking read, full of derring-do and old-fashioned villainy. A narrator inserts sly and humorous comments alongside amusing footnotes. Comical chapter headings include "In Which Great Revelations Are Greatly Revealed" and "In Which We Meet a Pig in a Teeny Hat. Again." The language is quite sophisticated, with challenging vocabulary. Readers of Lemony Snicket will find a tale of adventure in a similar vein to "A Series of Unfortunate Events": the last sentence reads, "Don't you just hate stories that end in cliff-hangers? They are just so…" VERDICT A quirky and lighthearted romp with likable characters and ample plot twists and turns; hand to fans of Lemony Snicket.—Michelle Anderson, Tauranga City Libraries, New Zealand - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/15/2017 Two preteens are pitched into an exhilarating whirl of life-threatening danger when they find themselves tangled in the affairs of the “wondrous, strange, sometimes itchy” Explorers Society. For Sebastian, a lad so buttoned up that the prospect of skipping a day of school precipitates a panic attack, it begins with the discovery of a puzzle box belonging to a defunct group of explorers dubbed the Filipendulous Five. For orphaned loner Evie, it comes after a narrow escape from a pair of creepily misshapen thugs. Taking on the role of coyly obnoxious narrator, Kress provides for her increasingly tight protagonists a notably diverse supporting cast ranging from a female Indiana Jones (with an affinity for animals but no people skills) to a pig wearing a teeny hat, and strews the tale with side remarks and often tangential footnotes. Fans of a Series of Unfortunate Events will be drawn to this series opener—and likely unsurprised to encounter a cliff-hanger ending with an unfinished final sentence. Final illustrations not seen. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.

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