Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

"So, there I was, tied to an alter made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians." (1)

The first sentence (quoted above) is now my favorite first sentence. This is how thirteen year old Alcatraz Smedry begins his true account of how his grandfather and he infiltrated the public library to steal back a bag of sand. That's right, Alcatraz's only gift from his supposedly dead parents arrives on his 13th birthday, and it's a bag of sand, which is promptly stolen by the evil Librarians. His madcap adventure ultimately deals with dinosaurs, paper monsters reminiscent of the creatures from Harry Potter, and Talents that appear worthless, such as arriving late and falling down. In the end however, everyone (including the English dinosaurs) proves their worth. With cliff hanger endings for (almost) every chapter, realistic troubles spelling Pterodactyl, and a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail on page 257, the book Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson is a must read for some hillarious encounters that could only be described in the words of Alcatraz as "propondidty". The sequel is even out already, titled Alcatraz Versus The Scrivener's Bones.

AMY