This book was recommended by none other than my eight-year old son. How awesome is that? He actually hasn't read it, but he pointed the books out to me at the library and said that his friend was reading them. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much i loved this book. The author exceeded my expectations, although I thought the eleven year old protagonist was way smarter than a normal kid her age. But i shouldn't compare, everyone is smarter than me, even I'm sure eleven year olds ;) And I absolutely loved his descriptions, they were very satisfying. I'm definitely reading the next one.