Floors was written by Patrick Carman and published in 2011. The book tells the story of a 10-year-old-boy named Leo who lives in the basement of the Whippet Hotel in New York City. Leo's father is the caretaker of the hotel. The designer of the hotel, Merganzer Whippet filled his hotel with lots of mysterious rooms and strange contraptions. Floors takes Leo and his friend Remi on the scavenger hunt of a lifetime.
When Merganzer Whippet suddenly goes missing, strange boxes start to arrive for Leo. Each of these boxes gives Leo directions to different rooms in the Whippet hotel. At this point, Leo's friend Remi joins in on the hunt for Mr. Whippet, and together, the two solve the puzzles in the strange boxes.
The story of Floors is obviously about Leo and Remi's quest to solve all the puzzles, however, one thing the author does very well is intertwining that story with the story of a millionaire named Bernardo Frescobaldi trying to sabotage the hotel to get the owner to sell it to him.
Patrick Carman does a wonderful job of giving the reader practically two different stories in one and delivering each story well. In this case, it can be easy to focus more on one story and disregard the other, but the author has managed to give a substantial amount of each story.
Another quirky addition to the book is the integration of animals into the plot of the story. An example of this is the ducks that inhabit the roof of the hotel and how they interact with the guests of the hotel, as well as with Leo and Remi.
I have had this book on my shelf for a while but never got around to reading it until recently and I realized that I had been missing out on a good story with admirable characters, and a whimsical plot. Although some might say that this book is made for younger readers, my opinion is that this book is for anyone who wants to enjoy a story about a fantastical hotel with mysterious rooms, eccentric characters, and adorable ducks.
The plot of this book reminds me of escape rooms, although more serious. I am intrigued by how the author would have combined the two stories of Leo and Frescobaldi into a unified narrative, which sounds very difficult. I agree that this book could target a wide range of readers with its exciting plot and unique characters. Thanks for introducing this book!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really interesting! I like that there's lots of elements added onto the main mystery, like Frescobaldi and the animals. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThis book seems really interesting. Especially because there are 2 different stories going on at the same time. Ill have to read this book.
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