Alcatraz versus The Evil Librarians #1 by Brandon Sanderson

I came upon this book accidentally at the library, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Alcatraz is an orphan, and he receives an unusual inheritance gift on his thirteenth birthday. It's a short note from his dead parents along with a small, plastic bag of sand. The next day, his grandfather shows up, and the adventures begin. The sand was stolen by a Librarian, and they must recover it before kingdoms and cultures are destroyed. The Librarians (think Lie-brarians) are a group that controls information in our world, so we are ignorant about the "real" world. Alcatraz and his grandfather are Oculators, so they use different types of glasses as weapons to help recover the sand before it can be changed into powerful lenses. Alcatraz, his grandfather, two cousins, and a bodyguard must break into the main library, the Librarians' local headquarters, and get through the defenses. It doesn't sound dangerous, but it is.

This book will take a bit of tolerance by readers. Alcatraz and his grandfather have unusual Talents that come in handy. Alcatraz's Talent is to break things, and his grandfather's Talent is in always being late. The Talents don't sound like much, but the author finds a way to make them seem surprisingly useful. The most annoying thing was having the narrator constantly interrupting the flow of the story to explain things or give trivial information about the writing of the book; the book is supposed to be an autobiography. Overall, it was an interesting book.