The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles
Published by Versify on April 2nd 2019
ISBN: 1328460835
Pages: 304
Goodreads

Lamar Giles’ “The Last Last-Day-of-Summer” follows brothers Otto and Sheed Alston on their last day of summer. Otto and Sheed are not just brothers, but are also local detectives who have solved several mysteries in Fry, Virginia and gotten the key to the city twice! Apparently a lot of weird things happen in their town, but today may be the weirdest: a man appears  and offers them an old camera, but when they take a picture, time freezes! How will the Legendary Alston Boys fix this mess? Written by the cofounder of We Need Diverse Books, Otto and Sheed are black and the book features several main characters of color. Filled with time travel, giant platypus-like creatures, robots and more, “The Last Last-Day-of-Summer,” is an action-filled story with characters you will want to read about again. I really hope Giles makes this a series!

Reminiscent of “The Phantom Tollbooth” and the Hardy Boys/Three Investigators, this middle grade novel will appeal to kids who enjoy funny stories with characters who get into weird situations. Aimed at kids in grades 5 through 7, this is definitely worth purchasing for your middle grade fiction collection.

Reviewed by Kate Radke, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook.