Keepers of the School: Keep the story going

Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School: We the Children
By Andrew Clements
Antheneum Book for Young Readers, April 2011 (HB published Apr 2010)
Paperback, 176 pages
Rating: Read if you have the next one on hand too.

Benjamin Pratt’s school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. It sounds like a dream come true! But lately, Ben has been wonder if he’s going to like an amusement park in the middle of his town—with all the buses and traffic and eight dollar slices of pizza. It’s going to change everything. And Ben is not so big on all the new changes in his life, like how his dad has moved out and started living in the marina on what used to be the “family” sailboat. 

Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School: Fear Itself
By Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Aug 2011 (HB published Jan 2011)
Paperback, 240 pages

The Keepers of the School are back and the stakes are even higher. Time is ticking as the countdown to their school’s total demolition continues. Ben has been given a handful of clues that could help them save the school, but they are all written in maritime riddles. “After five bells sound, time to sit down.” What the heck does that mean? It’s hard to know where to begin when Ben and Jill don’t even know what they are looking for.

 Robot's Review:
I KNOW....another Andrew Clements book. Well, actually two more. But maybe it'll feel like "just one" to you since the ending of the 1st book was quite abrupt and not quite logical. I think grade school kids will find the books enjoyable though and won't be as HUH?! to the ending of the 1st. The ending of the 2nd happened abruptly as well, as I saw there were many pages left, and didn't realize the "discussion" pages were going to take up some space. But the ending didn't strike me as too strange. It was a more natural stopping point than the 1st book.

And even though I do enjoy the books--they're adventurous and mysterious, there was a part in the second book that I thought was so stupid. The kids did something kind of illogical, but I guess does carry the story on and make it more suspenseful. But who would do such a thing! Well, you'll just have to read it to find out what I write of.

Nonetheless, I look forward to reading the third book! Which is already out....not sure how many there are/will be in this series...