By Lindsay Currie
4RBooks: 5/6, grades 4-8
Amazon rating: 4.6/5, grade level 3-7
Good Reads: 4.07/5
Common Sense Media: Not yet reviewed
245 pages
Synopsis:
Sarah, Hannah, and West are 12-year-old best friends who love working together to solve escape rooms. They’ve been together for 3 years and call themselves the Deltas after the Greek letter that looks like a triangle. When they learn that Sarah’s family is losing their home and might have to move, they decide to work together to solve the Triplet’s Treasure.
70 years ago, three orphaned and separated brothers reunited to build the world’s most elaborate funhouse. Unfortunately, one of the brothers died before it could open and the other two, seemingly, abandoned the project. Rumors are that a treasure is hidden in the house for anybody who can find it.
The Deltas think they can be the crew to solve the puzzles in the house and find the treasure. That way they can help Sarah’s family keep their house and the Deltas can remain together. A very long day of puzzle solving, adventure taking, and discovering secrets and courage they never realized they had would lead them to one final decision that could change their lives forever.
Parental Guidance: low
The children lie to their parents to sneak away. They ride the train to the abandoned fun house and then sneak inside.
In the fun house they face a number of obstacles and dangers, scary but not deadly.
Recommendation:
As I was reading this enjoyable story, the teacher in me kept thinking about schema, an educational term describing how prior knowledge affects a reader’s comprehension. Students who are familiar with escape rooms and have experienced them will have a great time imagining themselves in this novel. Students who don’t know about escape rooms can still find this an interesting read but will need some background information to fully appreciate the action.
The relationship between the three friends is described well. They each have their own unique personalities, strengths, and quirks. They realize their importance to each other and value their friendship. There are spats and arguments but they always find ways to forgive and work their way back to each other.
This has potential as an independent read, group read, or classroom read. It would be awesome as a family read before an escape room adventure, or just after.
While I bought this book on Amazon, I learned about it at the Writer’s Block Bookstore in Winter Park Florida. Unfortunately, they were out of the book, but it was worth the trip to visit that charming town just outside of Orlando.
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