Fun and Games in Middle Grade Fiction

 These two brand new middle grade books are all about games- and you know that since it's middle grade fiction, it's really about way more than the game.  Bigger stakes and bigger rewards!  Both of these books are high reward books!  

The first one is called The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie.  I was lucky enough to get to talk to her at our librarians conference (FAME) back in November and I was super excited to read it.  It did NOT disappoint.  The story is told by Sarah, a 12 year who loves doing puzzles, especially locked room puzzles with her two best friends-West and Hannah.  Sarah compares their friendship to a triangle-each one of the friends has different strengths that make them good at solving the puzzles to get out of an escape room, which is how they get their name for their threesome-The Deltas.  But Sarah is working on a different problem-her dad has been sick and her mom is working extra hard to make ends meet. It also feels a bit isolating since she needs to help take care of some of the things that her mom and dad used to take care of, taking her away from her friends.   One day Sarah finds a foreclosure notice for their house and makes up her mind to do something about it.  In a community not far away, there is an old fun house that is rumored to have been a prototype for an escape room game.  Unfortunately, the brothers who started to build it have died and the house has been locked up for years.  There is also a rumor that if the puzzles could all be solved, that there would be a treasure waiting for the solver.  Sarah talks West and Hannah into joining her in trying to solve the puzzle in the old fun house, even though their parents would object.  Along the way, there are emotional revelations about the difficulties that Hannah and West have been working through as well as trying to solve the puzzles.  The puzzles are not without danger so the book makes for an exciting ride.  There are themes of friendship and working together as well as the pure pleasure of trying to figure out how to solve each of the puzzles as the Deltas are working their way through the house.  I think the kids are going to love this one.  

Here's the book trailer.

Here's the super cool cover.

The second one is kind of a role playing adventure.  Think "The Hunger Games" crossed with "Dungeons and Dragons.    It's called "A Game of Noctis" and it's written by Deva Fagan.  It's set in a time and place that are much different from now-the economy of the town, Dantessa, is based on your standing as a player, the higher the rank you are, the more you can win, but if you lose all your currency, you end up in servitude, which is where Pia's grandpa ends up.  It turns out that  Pia and her grandfather have been living a kind of hand to mouth existence for the last two years when they were turned out of the house of the nobleman where her grandfather worked.  Pia is desperate to get her grandfather out of servitude, so she joins a team of role players for the big game-the game of Noctis.  Each of the five players on the team has a big reason for joining, all of which are revealed as the game is played, and the stakes are high-if they win, their futures are assured and if they lose, they lose big and end up in servitude.  Making the competition even more fraught with peril is the fact that one of the teams includes Pia's former best friend and the son of the nobleman that kicked out Pia and her grandfather two years ago.  And P.S., in order to REALLY win the game, the players have to defeat Death.  Yeah.  
This is an exciting story with lots of plot twists and inventive puzzles.  There are parts that are absolutely hilarious as well.  There are themes of trust and friendship and loyalty as well as questions raised about the stakes of games and role of traditions.  I thought this one was great, and I'll bet the kids are going to love this one too.