Is it possible to be TOO safe?

You might think so when you read Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner.  Goldie, like all children in the city of Jewel, has been chained to either a parent or Blessed Guardian since the time she could walk.  She's always been bold, though, and when the ceremony on Separation Day is disrupted, she takes the opportunity to run away.  She ends up at the Museum of Dunt; the four keepers take her in, teach her how to survive (she's been so overprotected that she can do little on her own), and show her how to navigate the mysterious, shape-shifting rooms and stairs.  She soon learns that the leader of the Blessed Guardians is power-crazy - he has plans that will destroy not only the museum, but Jewel and all of its residents.  Can Goldie stop him?  Lots of action and adventure in this book, the first of the Keepers Trilogy.  

Teeny tiny adventure

I'm ready to go back to the Art Institute of Chicago before after reading The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone.  Ruthie and Jack are on a field trip to the Art Institute when they see the exhibit called the Thorne Rooms - 68 miniature rooms that show different times in U.S. and European history.  They discover a magical key that can shrink them down to a height of five inches, just the right size for exploring the rooms.  They're surprised to find out that they aren't the first people to do this, and they're even more shocked to discover that they can actually enter the periods of time that the rooms represent.  Details of the rooms are fascinating, and it's fun to read how Ruthie and Jack solve problems that come up when they're so small.  Fans of Chasing Vermeer or From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler will appreciate this teeny tiny adventure.

And you'll be wonderstruck, too

Fans of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick also need to pick up Selznick's newer book, Wonderstruck.  Don't let the size scare you: there are a lot of pages because he tells one story in words and one in pictures.  Ben lives in Gunflint, Minnesota; it's 1977, and his mother recently died.  He never knew his father but believes he's in New York City, and Ben runs away to find him.  The parallel story is about Rose, a deaf girl living near New York City in 1927. She also runs away into the city in search of a movie star, who you learn is the mother that has abandoned her.  The author did an amazing amount of research to prepare the book (I was lucky enough to hear him talk!), and he does an incredible job of weaving the stories back and forth in a way that makes sense.  As you would expect, the stories and pictures come together in the end in a wonderful way.  This is definitely a book to enjoy multiple times.