Author: Adrienne Kress
Series: The Explorers (Book 1)
Publication: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (April 25, 2017)
Description: Featuring a mysterious society, a secretive past, and a pig in a teeny hat, The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is the first book in a new series for fans of The Name of This Book Is a Secretand The Mysterious Benedict Society. Knock once if you can find it—but only members are allowed inside.
This is one of those stories that start with a pig in a teeny hat. It’s not the one you’re thinking about. (This story is way better than that one.)
This pig-in-a-teeny-hat story starts when a very uninquisitive boy stumbles upon a very mysterious society. After that, there is danger and adventure; there are missing persons, hired thugs, a hidden box, a lost map, and famous explorers; and there is a girl looking for help that only uninquisitive boys can offer.
The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is the first book in a series that is sure to hit young readers right in the funny bone.
My Thoughts: Middle schoolers looking for action, adventure and footnotes won't want to miss THE DOOR IN THE ALLEY. Sebastian is a serious twelve-year-old attending a science and math magnet school. He is a rule follower. One day he discovers a sign on a door in an alley (that he only went down because his cousin took a wrong turn) that said The Explorers Society. He couldn't help but be curious about what the society did but was almost able to put it out of his mind until the day he rescued a little pig in a teeny hat who owner was a member of the society.
Sebastian helped him take his pig home, had tea with the leader of the society, and began to work at the Society to avoid being arrested for trespass. I loved his descriptions of the many strange rooms in the Society and the many strange people who visited there. Most strange of all were the Filipendulous Five that Sebastian learns about when he discovers a hidden wooden box filled with information about them.
Evie is an eleven-year-old orphan who is living at the Wayward School and attending weekly dinner parties with the Andersons who have befriended her. She finds the dinner parties very awkward and the Andersons very boring. At least, they were boring until one evening when two men broke in and threatened them all with guns if the Andersons didn't turn over some sort of mysterious key. Mrs. Anderson sent Evie out through a small tunnel with a letter and directions to go to the Explorers Society for help. The letter was from a grandfather that she thought was dead. The Explorers Society won't help Evie but Sebastian will. Rule-following Sebastian steps way out of his comfort zone when he offers Evie his help.
The two of them have lots of adventures as they try to find the missing key and the missing grandfather while avoiding dastardly villains. The story ends on a cliffhanger and will be continued in THE RECKLESS RESCUE which will be published in April 2018.
Favorite Quote:
Alleys in general tend to have an air of mystery that can be awfully ostentatious* but this alley in particular was, well, for want of a better word, creepy.I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.
*Though they remain not nearly as pretentious as culs-de-sac.
The cover is awesome! Lately I have a real fondness for middle grade books!
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