Don't Check Out This Book! - Review

 

Author: Kate Klise

Genre: Middle Grade 

Format: Hardback

Pages: 160

I added this to my Holds list at my library on a whim because it sounded so cute, and lucky me was that and more! This was fun from beginning to end and I love the way this story was told. It's not your traditional book. Instead, Don't Check Out This Book is told through emails, text, letters, and more. It was a fun way to to this story unfold from different points of view without getting lost in the shuffle.

This also meant a lot of illustrating needed to be done, and M. Sarah Klise does a wonderful job. The details in the memos were great, and you start to be able to the characters apart by the handwriting. I really felt like her artwork complimented the story well and didn't distract from the story at any time. My favorite pages were with the Daily Apple and Etta Toryal. There were so many little details and it was a such fun break from the memos and letters.

Speaking of Etta. The names of each of the characters were my second favorite part of this book. Who doesn't love a good pun! I also enjoyed how each name sort of described each character. For example, Cy Durr owns the apple orchard in town and Noah Memree forgets everything. Every time we met a new character I giggled.

In fact, a laughed a lot throughout this whole book. Ivana is the perfect villain for this story because you love to hate her. You also see what she's up to from the beginning and you couldn't really wait for it to all blow up in her face. I also felt that Rita B. Danjerous was the perfect sort of hero for this book because she also wasn't really the hero. She inspired the kids in this book and the people around and it lead to the downfall of Ivana. Which I think is a wonderful lesson. That sometimes it's the little things, the kind things that bring about the best change.

As for the story itself, it's one I've read before in Middle Grade books of good verse evil, but the format used to tell this story made it a lot of fun. The story moved pretty quickly, but you never feel lost in the shuffle. Instead, you keep reading to find out what's going to happen. Toward the end of the book my heart started to break for reason I don't want to spoil, but I was glad this story got a happy ending.

This was an all-around fun read and enjoyed my time with it. I'm glad I stumbled onto this through our library's online card catalog. 

Buy, Borrow, or Skip: This one has a two-part answer. If you got kids in your life currently reading Middle Grade, I say buy it because it's would make a wonderful addition to their library. If your an adult reader looking for a fun and fast read, borrow it from your library!

HAPPY READING!!