Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game by Chris Grabenstein

Fans of Mr. Lemoncello’s world of puzzles and games will enjoy this story of how he got his start.

Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game by Chris Grabenstein. Random House, 2022, 304 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10

Recommended for: ages 8-12

Master of Fun: The Origin Story

As every reader of Mr. Lemoncello’s Library knows, Luigi Lemoncello made a fortune in Fun, as the world’s foremost designer and marketer of board games. He became even more famous as the designer and sponsor of real-life puzzle games, where participants are locked in to solve a series of mind-stumpers in hopes of winning fabulous prizes. But every master of fame and fortune has to start somewhere. Mr. Lemoncello’s Very First Game takes us back to 1968 in Alexandriaville, Ohio, where Luigi is growing up in the middle of a very large Italian-American family.

He has a dedicated mom, a hard-working father, and nine siblings who all study hard and make good grades. Luigi doesn’t necessarily study hard or make outstanding grades, but he thinks really hard about fun. So far his ideas have served only to amuse his younger siblings and cost his parents money for broken furniture and plumbing. But the summer of 1968 changed everything. That’s when he met Professor Marvelmous, a carnival barker and consummate showman who regards fun as serious business. Seeing a kindred spirit, the Professor hires Luigi as his apprentice and assistant game-master.

Like Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, this origin story is long on puzzles and tricks and short on characterization. The villains are snotty rich kids, the parents are hardworking and mostly out of the picture, and the conflicts are melodramatic. But the Lemoncello novels were never intended as great literature and there’s something refreshingly retro about them, as if they were published in the 1950s. Fans of the earlier books will enjoy finding all the details prefigured here, and kids who haven’t met Mr. Lemoncello may wait eagerly for the next trip to the library where they can snap up all the sequels.

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value:4
• Artistic/literary value: 3.75

Read more about our ratings here.                 

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: Probably the best puzzle novel of all time is The Westing Game. And though we haven’t reviewed it, Much Ado about Baseball cleverly combines the great American game with math puzzlers. Finally, readers who haven’t discovered The Mysterious Benedict Society should get with it!
• Resources: Our list of Books for Summertime Fun. And, when it’s too hot to go outside, Best Games for Book Lovers.

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