Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics

Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics, published in 2016, is the second book in Chris Grabenstein’s Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series. This middle grade mystery-adventure novel continues the story of Kyle Keeley and his friends, the winners of a puzzle-based library adventure concocted by the eccentric billionaire Luigi Lemoncello in the series’s first book, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. In Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics, Kyle and his friends return to the fantastical library to solve more puzzles and complete more wacky physical challenges. This time, the prize is full college scholarships. Unbeknownst to the contestants, however, Mr. Lemoncello has another challenge in mind that will require Kyle and the others to work together to preserve their beloved library from forces that want to destroy everything it stands for. Like the other books in the Lemoncello series, Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics is full of Grabenstein’s signature humor and pays homage to his love of puzzles and wordplay. The first book in this series won the Agatha Award for Best Juvenile Mystery as well as many Children's Choice State Book Awards. In 2017, a film version of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library was released by Nickelodeon.

This study guide refers to the 2016 Random House first edition of the text.

Plot Summary

Good friends Kyle Keeley, Sierra Russell, Miguel Fernandez, and Akimi Hughes are a team of eighth graders who, six months before the story begins, won a puzzle-solving contest at billionaire Luigi Lemoncello’s new library in their hometown of Alexandriaville, Ohio. Many children envy them: Their prize was to star in commercials for Lemoncello’s wacky line of video and board games. One of the people who envies them the most is Charles Chiltington, another Alexandriaville middle-schooler. Charles was disqualified from winning the game by Mr. Lemoncello and now plots to with his mother, Susana Willoughby Chiltington, to shut down Lemoncello’s library. Susana forms the League of Concerned Library Lovers, and lobbies to get the members installed as a supervisory board for the Lemoncello Library.

Kyle and his friends become aware of the rising tide of jealousy aimed at them when they stumble across some online commentary. The original contest was limited to seventh graders at Alexandriaville’s middle school, and many people claim that Kyle and his team would not have won Mr. Lemoncello’s contest if they had competed with teams from across the country. Mr. Lemoncello, also aware of the criticism, decides to create a new contest open to young people across the United States. He announces that he will hold a “Library Olympics,” and the members of the winning team will receive full college scholarships. Many amazing competitors emerge, including a serious-minded, ruthless, and talented Midwest regional champion called Marjory Muldauer. Kyle begins to worry about losing before a nationwide audience.

Kyle suggests to his teammates that they replace him with fellow Alexandriaville middle-schooler Andrew Peckleman, who is more knowledgeable about library science. His teammates assure him that they need his skill at games and puzzles and that Andrew, who was disqualified in the same cheating incident as Charles, will not be interested in replacing him—Andrew now claims to hate libraries. Even so, Kyle visits Andrew at his after-school job at the Blue Jay Extended Stay Lodge, owned by Andrew’s supposed “uncle,” Woodrow “Woody” Peckleman. Before he can ask Andrew about taking his place on the team, however, Charles arrives, insisting that he should to replace Kyle, not Andrew. Kyle refuses to consider the idea, even though Andrew has no interest at all in being in the Library Olympics.

On the day of the Library Olympics opening ceremony, Marjory confronts Kyle’s team at the Blue Jay Extended Stay Lodge, where all the teams are staying. She taunts him, saying that his fame is about to end. The teams parade around the courtyard in goofy regional costumes, and Mr. Lemoncello declares the games open. Head librarian Dr. Zinchenko distributes new library cards to the contestants, explaining that whichever team wins the most medals in the 12 games will be declared the winner—but perhaps not the champion. The children are confused about how these two things might not be the same. The next day, as Kyle’s team travels to the library for the first event, Sierra and Miguel reveal that Andrew’s uncle Woody tried to give them “Go to College Free” cards, but they refused to take this shortcut, preferring to compete honestly.

The first game is a library cart relay race; the Pacific team beats Kyle’s team. In the second game, the Midwest team is the fastest to shelve books correctly. Kyle gives his team a pep talk, reminding them that they still have many chances to win, and on the second day they win for researching plane design and creating the longest-flying paper airplane. They also win the next contest, in which Kyle uses his gaming skills to successfully race a pterodactyl through obstacles. Although they lose the fifth game, which is a book-title challenge, Sierra’s knowledge of books carries them to victory in the sixth game. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic teams win the seventh and eighth medals, and Kyle costs his team the win in the ninth challenge when he ignores Sierra’s correct answer to a rebus question in favor of his own incorrect answer. Kyle doubts himself and worries about the public humiliation of losing. The pressure gets to him, and he is rude to both Miguel and Andrew, shocking his teammates.

Meanwhile, Woody and Susana join forces and produce a plan they believe will upset Lemoncello so badly that he will voluntarily leave town and turn the library over to Susana and her committee. As a part of this plan, Marjory accepts a “Go to College Free” card in exchange for agreeing to steal a book from the Lemoncello Library. When Lemoncello’s 10th game begins, it becomes clear that Marjory has stolen Kate DiCamillo’s Flora and Ulysses: Competitors race to the book’s location, but the Mountain team representative, who arrives there first, finds the book missing. Lemoncello is upset and, as Woody predicted, begins to talk about turning the library over to Susana’s committee. During the 11th challenge, Lemoncello learns that many books have been removed from the library. Completely demoralized, he gives all competitors a “Go to College Free” card and cancels the rest of the Library Olympics. He announces that he is leaving town and will turn the library over to Susana and the League of Concerned Library Lovers.

Kyle and his team tell Lemoncello that they intend to find the missing books and thereby persuade him to stay in Alexandriaville. When they report back to the library in the morning, Lemoncello is gone. A holographic version of the former librarian at the old Alexandriaville Public Library hints that they need to talk to the other medal winners, and Kyle realizes that the names of the medals are a clue. Andrew and all the teams work together to complete a series of puzzles and eventually discover where Woody has been keeping the missing books. Unfortunately, Woody has already removed them from their hiding place and is now threatening to burn them. Kyle challenges Woody to a competition: Whoever wins will control the fate of the books. In addition, if Woody wins, he gets to burn all the contestants’ “Go to College Free” cards. Kyle wins the game, and Woody reveals himself to be Donald Thorne, Lemoncello’s acting coach. Lemoncello arrives and explains that from the beginning, the competition has been designed to discover the library’s “true champions.” Having tested the Olympians’ devotion to the library, Lemoncello now installs them as the library’s new board of directors.