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Thursday, April 4, 2019

Review: The Last Last-Day of Summer by Lamar Giles



The Last Last-Day of Summer 
By Lamar Giles 
April 2, 2019 
Versify 

The Hardy Boys meets The Phantom Tollbooth, in the new century! When two adventurous cousins accidentally extend the last day of summer by freezing time, they find the secrets hidden between the unmoving seconds, minutes, and hours are not the endless fun they expected. 

Otto and Sheed are the local sleuths in their zany Virginia town, masters of unraveling mischief using their unmatched powers of deduction. And as the summer winds down and the first day of school looms, the boys are craving just a little bit more time for fun, even as they bicker over what kind of fun they want to have. That is, until a mysterious man appears with a camera that literally freezes time. Now, with the help of some very strange people and even stranger creatures, Otto and Sheed will have to put aside their differences to save their town—and each other—before time stops for good. 


Cousins, Sheed and Otto, are pretty famous in their little town, famous for being the sleuths to solve all the wacky and unusual mysteries in their not-so-normal town. But on the last day of summer they find themselves in a magical race against time. When a mysterious man with a time freezing camera shows up and tricks the boys into freezing time, and a man possibly from the future jumps out of the sky, and odd creatures start to appear, the cousins must use all their wits, courage, and skills of deduction to save their friends, family, the town, and each other. 

Lamar Giles The Last Last-Day of Summer is a wildly fun, cleverly written magical romp that’s X-Files meets Gravity Falls with a dash of Supernatural for middle-grade readers! Bursting with pitch-perfect storytelling, creative magical elements, and awesome characters, this book is unputdownable from start to finish. 

Lamar Giles spins a captivating and engaging story, and has an amusing and delightfully whimsical way with words. Adventure, mystery, magical realism, fantasy, and humor all collide together to create a truly unique and quirky story. The town of Fry, with its odd occurrences and abundance of the paranormal makes for a thrilling and fun setting. The fantastical and magical elements in The Last Last-Day of Summer are super creative and cool.  

The heart of this story is, of course, its characters, and Giles offers readers a wonderful array of diverse, admirable, and likable characters. Sheed and Otto, and their rivals-sometimes-friends Leen and Wiki, are the kinds of heroes and main characters we rarely see in kid’s books, especially fantasy/magical book: they’re children of color (in this case African-American). They’re not the sidekicks or barely-there characters, these smart, capable, complex kids are the heroes that save the day with their smarts, courage, and determination! Young readers are going to absolutely love and admire these characters and want to join them on all their adventures. Plus, the whole town of Fry, which is such a wonderfully tight knit community, is full of likable, engaging, and sometimes unexpected characters. 

With its fun and exciting story, charming and awesome characters, and splendid storytelling, The Last Last-Day of Summer will keep readers enthralled, engaged, and entertained! 

5/5 Cupcakes



Lamar Giles is a well-published author and a founding member of We Need Diverse Books™. Lamar has two novels forthcoming in 2019: his debut middle grade fantasy THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER (Versify / HMH) and his fourth YA thriller SPIN (Scholastic).  Lamar Giles is a two-time Edgar Award finalist in the YA category, for his debut YA thriller FAKE ID (HarperCollins, 2014), and his second YA thriller, ENDANGERED (HarperCollins, 2015). His third YA thriller, OVERTURNED (Scholastic, 2017) received a glowing New York Times review and was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2017. FAKE ID has been optioned by Sony Pictures 
ABOUT WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS  
 We Need Diverse Books™ Mission Statement:  
Putting more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children. 
We Need Diverse Books™ Vision:  A world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book. 


1 comment:

Tonja Drecker said...

This is a fun read! Enjoyed your review.