Review: The Last Mirror on the Left by Lamar Giles

 THE LAST MIRROR ON THE LEFT

by Lamar Giles

Illustrated by Dapo Adeola

Versify

Middle Grade Adventure

272 pages

ages 8 to 12

COMING...

OCTOBER 20th!!!

In this new Legendary Alston Boys adventure from Edgar-nominated author Lamar Giles, Otto and Sheed must embark on their most dangerous journey yet, bringing a fugitive to justice in a world that mirrors their own but has its own rules to play by.

          

BOOK DEPOSITORY

MY TIDBITS

First off, this is the second book in a series, and it should be read as such, since Otto and Sheed take off where the last one ended. The background to the worlds, situations, and characters are all found in the first book.

Packed with fun character, great dialogue, and imagination at every curve, this is an exciting adventure which hooks and holds.

Sheed and Otto think their adventures have calmed down. They don't expect to be pulled off to court and accused of being criminals for the way they handled their last case. Plus, they discover that things didn't wrap up as nicely as they hoped, and they have to go hunt down the evil doer again. But not only are they thrown into a warped mirror world to go on their search, Sheed becomes ill, and the only cure supposedly holds consequences. Sheed might not ever be able to return to the 'normal' world again. Add spiders, people who look like those they know but aren't, disappearing towns, time travel, and a very tricky bad guy, and the adventure is anything but a sure win for these two.

I love the imagination and fun in this series. The author allows two, very normal boys to take off into the most obscure situations and lets them battle and solve as best they can. There's nothing really special about the two. They are as normal as young readers themselves, and this makes them very easy to connect to. The back and forth between the cousins is not only humorous and fun to read, it does a great job at bringing the reality of such relationships to life. The two are best friends and yet, they don't always get along or understand each other. Still, their loyalty for one another is inspiring and exactly how it should be. It's a duo that readers wish they could join.

The author does a wonderful job at twisting worlds, fantasy and time travel into a smooth and...well, mostly logical tale. The reasonings behind the world and those in it are clever, and easy to follow. For all it's quirkiness, things do hold their own strange reasoning and aren't just grabbed out of nowhere. But with all of the twists, unexpected run-ins, and strange meetings, there's nothing normal about a lot of things. And it's great that way.

I see readers, who love tension, excitement and a bit of ridiculousness enjoying this one quite a bit, especially the younger end of the middle grade spectrum. There are illustrations peppered in during the tale, which are always a bonus in my opinion. While I do see kids ages 7 to 10 enjoying this one more than the slightly older end, I am wondering how many will be willing to plop into a thicker read like this one. But those who do are in for an exciting read with smiles, heart and edge-of-the-seat moments, too.

And here he is...

Lamar Giles is a well-published author and a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. Lamar has two novels forthcoming in 2020: NOT SO PURE AND SIMPLE his first Contemporary Coming-of-Age Story (HarperTeen/HarperCollins) and THE LAST MIRROR ON THE LEFT (Versify/HMH), the sequel to his 2019 hit THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER.

Lamar 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 and fourth YA thrillers, OVERTURNED (Scholastic, 2017) and SPIN (Scholastic, 2019), as well as his middle-grade debut THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER received glowing New York Times reviews, and was named to multiple Best Of lists, including Time Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, and Amazon. FAKE ID has been optioned by Sony Pictures. 

Lamar is the editor of the We Need Diverse Books YA short story anthology FRESH INK (Random House, 2018), and a contributor to many YA and middle-grade anthologies including THREE SIDES OF A HEART (HarperCollins, 2017), BLACK ENOUGH: STORIES OF BEING YOUNG & BLACK IN AMERICA (HarperCollins / Balzer & Bray, 2019), THE HERO NEXT DOOR (Random House, 2019), HIS HIDEOUS HEART (Flatiron Books, 2019) and SUPER PUZZLETASTIC MYSTERIES (HarperCollins, 2020). He has published several short stories for adults.  You can see tv interviews with Lamar here, and here, and here, and in a truly fun “Fun Facts” short interview, created by HarperCollins.

You can learn more about Lamar and his works here!

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

THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER

by Lamar Giles

Illustrated by Dapo Adeola

Versify Press

Middle Grade Adventure

304 pages

ages 10 to 12

COMING...

APRIL 2nd, 2019!!!

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.

 MY TIDBITS

With a whirlwind of adventure, imagination and fun, this is a tale which grabs from the first page to pack surprise after surprise the entire way through.

Otto and Sheed are not exactly happy about it being the very last day of before school starts again. They aren't sure what to do with the day, but run into Mr. Flux who gives them a camera and claims it will help them capture the moments. After two photos, a portal suddenly opens up and Mr. Flux battles with a stranger...but then, Mr. Flux is doing strange things himself. Time is frozen, and Otto and Sheed head into a grand adventure of odd characters and things, each having to do with time, and some even with a dash of philosophy. Somehow, the need to figure everything out while experiencing the most memorable last day before school ever.

I have not read any of this author's works before and am completely taken by the imagination and fun built into these pages. Adventure sweeps in with the force of a tidal wave and refuses to let go. At every turn, Otto and Sheed run into a new, fascinating situation which shoots off in the most amazing and humorous directions. It's never clear what they'll run into next, and they do run from one amazement to the other as fast as the pages flip.

There's a clever connection between all of the quirky elements, which first grows clear as the pages turn. While it seems like every moment is grabbed out of fun and fantasy, it soon becomes clear that there is a pattern of time and experience. The notes Otto and Sheed jot down sit like clues or realizations in a mystery, although this isn't really an mystery in the traditional sense. It's more fun and entertaining to follow them through the situations.

While I enjoyed the fast paced fun, it rolled a bit too quick and quirky at times, leaving some things to get blown over too fast. Still, there's a wonderful sense of working together, and the adventure does drag the reader in. Although it's slightly long, I see readers ages nine to ten loving the humor and fun.


And here he is...

Lamar Giles is a well-published author and a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. Lamar SPIN (Scholastic).

has two novels forthcoming in 2019: his debut middle grade fantasy THE LAST LAST-DAY-OF-SUMMER (Versify / HMH) and his fourth YA thriller

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 this glowing New York Times review, and was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2017. You can see the book trailer for OVERTURNED here. FAKE ID has been optioned by Sony Pictures. 

Lamar is a contributor to the YA anthology THREE SIDES OF A HEART (HarperCollins, 2017), the editor of the We Need Diverse Books YA short story anthology FRESH INK (Random House 2018), a contributor to the forthcoming YA anthology BLACK ENOUGH: STORIES OF BEING YOUNG & BLACK IN AMERICA (HarperCollins / Balzer & Bray 2019), and a contributor to a forthcoming We Need Diverse Books middle grade anthology THE HERO NEXT DOOR (Random House 2019). He has published several short stories for adults. You can see tv interviews with Lamar here, and here, and here, and in a truly fun “Fun Facts” short interview, created by HarperCollins.