The Island of Dr. Libris

The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein, 242 pages

I liked the books about Mr. Lemoncello better than this book but this one was also pretty good.  Billy is spending the summer at a beach house with his mother, who is writing her dissertation.  Billy's dad is staying at their apartment.  Billy doesn't like that they are spending the summer apart but he's making the best of it.  During the summer strange things start happening.  As Billy starts reading some of the books in the house, the characters from the books start to appear on an island across from the house.  Billy begins to have adventures with Hercules, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and the Three Musketeers, just to name a few.  As more characters come to life, the events on the island start to spin out of control and Billy isn't sure if he and his friend, Walter, can fix some of the problems.  And if Billy can't figure out how to fix the problems on the island, how can he possibly begin to fix his real life problems?  This was a fun fantasy adventure withy enough real life thrown in to make it really interesting.  I would have liked to see a little more of the real villain in the story, but except for that, I thought it was a pretty satisfying read.