Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene wants nothing more from her seventh-grade year than to beat the hardest escape room left in her town with her best friends, West, and Hannah. But when a foreclosure notice shows up on Sarah's front door, everything changes. Since her father became ill two years ago, things have been bad, but not lose your house bad...until now.
Sarah feels helpless until the day Hannah mentions a treasure rumored to be hidden in the walls of an abandoned funhouse. According to legend, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein were orphaned at eight years old and lived with different families until they were able to reunite as adults. Their dream was to build the most epic funhouse in existence. They wanted their experience to be more than mirror mazes and optical illusions, so they not only created elaborate riddles and secret passages, but they also claimed to have hidden a treasure inside the funhouse.
Once in, Sarah, West, and Hannah realize the house is unlike any escape room they've attempted. There are challenges, yes, but they feel personal. Like the triplets knew who would get in. It seems impossible, but so does everything about the house. As soon as they're in she immediately worries that attempting the funhouse is a bad idea but Sarah has no choice but to continue, since her future is at stake.
What a fun adventure story! Sarah and her friends are escape rooms aficionados, beating almost everything in their town. When Sarah's family desperately need money, they decide to risk the old funhouse outside town, designed as the best escape room ever but long closed down. If they can find the treasure within, all their problems will be solved! If they can get it back out again...
The escape problems and rooms are so imaginative, it's amazing. I wouldn't have been able to solve half the problems the kids faced. It's really well put together. (Although I'm a bit puzzled that they keep calling it a fun house - to me, a fun house is very different to an escape room, but I might have that wrong!) The kids are great characters, each with their individual quirks and moments in the sun.
This is a great adventure story and I highly recommend it to any young reader.
Book Recommendation: Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library. Kyle thought he was having a fun lock in at the local library, but when the doors don't open in the morning, he and his friends will need to figure out how to escape.
Movie Recommendation: If you love the high-stakes puzzles and teamwork of The Mystery of Locked Rooms, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a perfect match. When four teens get sucked into an old video game, they must navigate a series of dangerous challenges, each tailored to their strengths and weaknesses, in order to escape. Like Sarah and her friends, the characters must rely on problem-solving skills, quick thinking, and teamwork to survive. Plus, with a fantastic cast—including Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan—this adventure is as funny as it is thrilling.
The Mystery of Locked Rooms is already available in the UK and publishes on the 2nd April 2025 in the US, using the same cover. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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