Floors by Patrick Carman

Leo's day starts out like a pretty ordinary day. Well, that is, an ordinary day in the Whippet Hotel. Owned by Merganzer Whippet, a billionare inventor with a love for ducks, the Whippet is home to wild rooms like the Pinball Room or the Cake Room, has live ducks living in a pond on the roof, and has talking robots living within a special robot room. While dealing with the ducks, Leo discovers a mysterious purple package; it has his name on it. Inside are clues to a mysterious quest that Leo must finish in two days. But the clues are not straightforward... will Leo be able to figure it out? He'll need a little luck, a little help, and it never hurts to bring a duck.

This book won me over. I found the beginning to be a bit slow; there was lots of wacky details, but I had a hard time putting the pieces together. I read fifty pages, though, and something kept me going for the next fifty. Then I set the book down and did something else, and in the mean time I realized that I was wondering about Leo and the Whippet and the whole adventure. The book had crept into my brain! The book has its own internal logic that I still couldn't quite follow, which kept me from puzzling out too much of the story. I liked the blossoming friendship between Leo and Remi (and the moments of frustration that Leo felt rang completely true), the relationship that Leo and his Dad have, and the competence that Leo displays throughout the book. There's a pretty hiss-worthy villian in Ms. Sparks (although I tired of her pretty quickly, the book needs someone like her posing a threat to the boys) and a magically mysterious semi-presence through the specter of Merganzer Whippet. This is a good book to hand fans of other puzzling books (The Westing Game comes to mind).  Looking at the cover of the first book (and the cover of the second book, due out this September), it seems like this is going to be a series of at least three books. Bring it on!

Find it at IndieBound. 

Read it with:
Floors #2: 3 Below by Patrick Carman
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin