Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

The books are funny and exciting, and some kids / adults will appreciate the literary references sprinkled between jokes and magic tech action. The monologues at the beginning of the chapters are a little too long in this first book, but they're snappier in the rest of the series, and it wouldn't be the same without them.

I borrowed this book from a friend and I read the About The Author and I just started crying it was so hilarious. I claimed that the book was an autobiography and Alcatraz Smedry wrote it and used Brandon Sanderson as a pen name. The pictures are great and I would recommend this book to anyone.

The book is clever. I mean, really clever. The tone is Lemony Snickett crossed with Buckaroo Banzai. There were times when I laughed out loud and forced my husband to listen to an excerpt - specifically the veiled allusion in the last chapter, and also the authorial aside about books that you "should" read where boys have dogs that die. I'd recommend this book to people of all ages! I've already lent it to my nephew. Of course, would I really expect anything else from Brandon Sanderson? He continually amazes me as an author, and I'd rank him as in my top three favorite writers of all times. I'm looking forward to the release of the others in the series!

Alcatraz at first glance appears to be your typical teen-age boy, even if he's named after a world-famous prison. Being passed around the foster-care system hasn't helped his attitude much, though, and it seems that he brings it on himself with his terrible clutziness. On his thirteenth birthday he gets a strange--and very old--package in the mail from his father (where is he? is he dead? is he alive? we don't know?) claiming that it contains Alcatraz's inheritance: a bag of sand. Mystified and sad, he decides to make himself some comfort food but accidentally catches the kitchen drapes on fire. Then everything hits the fan: the sand is stolen, a man claiming to be his grandfather shows up, his foster mother wants to kick him out of the house, and a man with a gun threatens his life. Not a great way to spend a birthday, if you ask me. But, oh, what hilarity ensues. What's great about Sanderson's stuff is that it's beyond the typical fantasy-epic-journey type story like you'd find in Paolini or MacHale. Almost the entire story takes place at the downtown library, where things aren't always what they seem. And nothing is off-limits: Sanderson makes fun of everything and it's just plain funny. Exceedingly silly, but funny for kids and grown-ups. The characters are fun, and even the antagonists turn out to be complex people. Alcatraz in particular is an interesting character who struggles with his accident-prone nature, until he learns it's a 'Talent' (his grandfather's Talent is arriving late to things...it's so funny, but it works!). He's convinced he's a bad kid, but it gets harder for us to believe it as the story progresses, and even he seems to change his mind a little near the end. Sanderson's strength, as in his other novels, is his plotting. He knows how to tell a story at a great pace, that moves forward and never lags. The author is also great with magic. He finds new ways to make magic just plain cool, like the Allomancers in The Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1). In Alcatraz the protagonists have their Talents (his cousin's Talent is tripping), but they are also Occulators--that is, many of their powers come from the eye-glasses they wear! How cool is that?! Having worn glasses all throughout my childhood, the idea of them giving superpowers is cooler than cool. Alcatraz would be great to read out loud to your kids (I'd say ages 9-12), and you won't be bored in the process!

This book was so fun to read. There is so much humor, and Brandon really has a way of bringing out these quirky, off the wall jokes that just make you laugh (I love somewhat random humor, rutabaga, and so it made me enjoy this book even more). I love the Author's Foreword that talks about how this book really wasn't written by Brandon Sanderson, but rather by Alcatraz Smedry, but his "Hushlander" editor required him to have a pseudonym. I love all the "talents" the family members have, which seem not so much like talents at all, and how Brandon cleverly turned them into amazing abilities. Also, I love how Alcatraz, writing this years after the events, keeps trying to convince you that he's a bad person and not a hero, as everyone thinks. (Not that anyone is convinced of this.) This does feel overdone at times, but it's the only real flaw I saw in this book. Overall it's just a really fun book and I look forward to the whole series.

One of the funnest books I have ever read. This is a very smart book, it is very well written, and had me laughing out loud several times (that is a rare occasion for me). Not only is this book blatantly funny, but there are a lot of small jokes that are hidden amongst the lines that are a delight to find. Very good read, well worth the price of a hardcover copy.

First off, I should say that in my mid twenties I am a little older than the target "reading level" of this book. However, that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying every word of it. I am a big fan of Brandon Sanderson, and am glad to see that his writing skill can equally please readers of all ages. Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians is the most cleverly written book I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The precisely written narration is what I enjoyed the most. Each chapter, Alcatraz (the narrator) breaks away from the story, to talk to the reader from the voice of the author. These little sections are filled with really clever tidbits that on many occasions had me laughing out loud. The story itself is entertaining as well. True to Sanderson's form, some of the characters have a special magical "talent" that they use in very creative ways. These talents are attributes that we might not normally see as an advantage, such as always arriving late, and tripping and falling in very dramatic ways. Sanderson also does a great job sheding new light on the world we live in by comparing it to a more advanced society where light bulbs are inferior to open flames (since lights can't set things on fire) and stairs are more advanced than elevators (because you get a work out climbing them). This is a book that I think any kid will love, with the parents enjoying it equally as much.