I'd have given this one 2.5 if I could. It was short and cute, but really lacking in character development; each character had pretty much one trait to work with. Perfect for younger elementary kids and the word nerd in me enjoyed the puns, oxymorons, anagrams, and palindromes.

Course evaluation:

Personal Response: This was a quick, but amusing read. As someone who enjoys crossword puzzles and language, I thought the tasks were creative and fun to see played out. The characters were a bit flat, which was my biggest complaint.

Evaluation: Though this story feels mainly like the realistic fiction, a curse placed on Logan and his style of speaking places it into the fantasy category. However, readers will relate to the friendship and arguments between the main character and his best friend; their annoyance and quick reconciliation feels authentic for children in the age group. The plot and sense of humor displayed in the dialogue is original for a modern fantasy; though many heroes in fantasy stories must complete quests, few are involved in collecting elements of language such as anagrams. Young readers will enjoy the constant plays on words. The characterization, however, is lacking; Lubar makes the mistake creating one-note, generic characters. We only know which sport each boy prefers, and that the Reference Librarian reprimands children. Few interesting or unique traits are revealed in each character description.