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The Door in the Alley

The Door in the Alley

#1 in series

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Featuring a mysterious society, a secretive past, and a pig in a teeny hat, The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is the first book in a new series for fans of The Name of This Book Is a Secret and The Mysterious Benedict Society. Knock once if you can find it—but only members are allowed inside.
 
   This is one of those stories that start with a pig in a teeny hat. It’s not the one you’re thinking about. (This story is way better than that one.)
   This pig-in-a-teeny-hat story starts when a very uninquisitive boy stumbles upon a very mysterious society. After that, there is danger and adventure; there are missing persons, hired thugs, a hidden box, a lost map, and famous explorers; and there is a girl looking for help that only uninquisitive boys can offer.
   The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is the first book in a series that is sure to hit young readers right in the funny bone.
 
"[A] wildly funny adventure....Animals in teeny hats, Wonderland-style logic, and loads of wordplay and sarcasm will keep readers giggling all the way through."-Kirkus Reviews
"Exhilarating....Fans of a Series of Unfortunate Events will be drawn to this."—Booklist
A rollicking read, full of derring-do and old-fashioned villainy.”—School Library Journal
 
"Funny, offbeat, and subversive...occasional footnotes and other humorous asides from the omniscient narrator break the fourth wall and ramp up the playfulness."—The Horn Book
"Narrated with a smart, brisk tone and plenty of snark...The Door in the Alley packs plenty of twists, turns and danger."—Shelf Awareness
"The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is a rollicking and clever adventure! Chock full of brilliant plot twists, pitch-perfect humor, and non-stop action. Kress has kicked off this series with a bang!"—Arthur Slade, author of The Hunchback Assignments
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    • Kirkus

      February 1, 2017
      A boy used to predictability joins forces with a girl who wants to belong in this wildly funny adventure.STEM genius Sebastian lives a perfectly appropriate life, but when he accidentally goes the wrong way down a creepy alley on the way home from school, he winds up at The Explorers Society, where order is turned upside down and backward. When the society's president tells Sebastian to do something "inappropriate" as part of his punishment for trespassing, he steals a mysterious box from the society's archives. Subsequently, he's flung into the unexpected, where he meets orphan Evie, who has lived within the gray walls of the Wayward School since her parents died two years earlier. Her boring weekly dinners with the charitable Andersons take an unboring turn when two clearly villainous men show up looking for something. Before the kids--both of them white--know it, they've gone from strangers to friends working together to work out the fate of the Filipendulous Five, a famous group of explorers that mysteriously disbanded years ago and to whom Evie has a personal connection. Animals in teeny hats, Wonderland-style logic, and loads of wordplay and sarcasm will keep readers giggling all the way through to the dramatic--and metafictive--cliffhanger. Readers will look forward to the sequel to this dizzying loop-the-loop. (Adventure. 8-13)

      COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • School Library Journal

      March 1, 2017

      Gr 4-6-Rational and risk-averse Sebastian is challenged by the director of the madcap Explorers Society to do something he shouldn't: steal a box. The contents of the box relate in some way to Evie, an orphan who lives at a school but regularly dines with a very boring couple known as the Andersons. One night, two dangerous men burst into the Andersons' house in pursuit of a key. The two children find themselves caught up in a perilous chase involving Evie's grandfather and a group of explorers known as the Filipendulous Five. This is a rollicking read, full of derring-do and old-fashioned villainy. A narrator inserts sly and humorous comments alongside amusing footnotes. Comical chapter headings include "In Which Great Revelations Are Greatly Revealed" and "In Which We Meet a Pig in a Teeny Hat. Again." The language is quite sophisticated, with challenging vocabulary. Readers of Lemony Snicket will find a tale of adventure in a similar vein to "A Series of Unfortunate Events": the last sentence reads, "Don't you just hate stories that end in cliff-hangers? They are just so..." VERDICT A quirky and lighthearted romp with likable characters and ample plot twists and turns; hand to fans of Lemony Snicket.-Michelle Anderson, Tauranga City Libraries, New Zealand

      Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      March 15, 2017
      Grades 5-8 Two preteens are pitched into an exhilarating whirl of life-threatening danger when they find themselves tangled in the affairs of the wondrous, strange, sometimes itchy Explorers Society. For Sebastian, a lad so buttoned up that the prospect of skipping a day of school precipitates a panic attack, it begins with the discovery of a puzzle box belonging to a defunct group of explorers dubbed the Filipendulous Five. For orphaned loner Evie, it comes after a narrow escape from a pair of creepily misshapen thugs. Taking on the role of coyly obnoxious narrator, Kress provides for her increasingly tight protagonists a notably diverse supporting cast ranging from a female Indiana Jones (with an affinity for animals but no people skills) to a pig wearing a teeny hat, and strews the tale with side remarks and often tangential footnotes. Fans of a Series of Unfortunate Events will be drawn to this series openerand likely unsurprised to encounter a cliff-hanger ending with an unfinished final sentence. Final illustrations not seen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

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Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.4
  • Lexile® Measure:790
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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