The Game Master: Summer Schooled

by Rebecca Zamolo, Matt Slays

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Mystery and action-packed adventure collide in this first book in a new series from the YouTube sensations behind Game Master Network. Can Rebecca and her classmates save the summer from the Game Master threatening to take it all away? Young readers will race through this original story to find out.

New York Times bestseller! From Matt and Rebecca Zamolo, creators of the mega-popular YouTube series Game Master Network, comes a new thrilling novel about everyone’s favorite mystery-solving team as they go toe-to-toe with the mysterious and menacing Game Master.

Rebecca Zamolo is on a mission to save her summer. Instead of going to camp like she’d planned, she’s been stuck in summer school. But today is the day! She’s going to present her final science assignment—using her Nana’s borrowed vintage zoetrope—and then she’ll be free to have fun.

But as Becca and her classmates wait for her teacher to arrive, a menacing voice comes over the intercom claiming to be the Game Master! The kids quickly discover that the Game Master has locked the doors, scared off the teachers, and made it clear that if Becca and her friends don’t solve the clues that have been left behind, they’ll never get back Becca’s irreplaceable zoetrope, never finish summer school, and never get to enjoy what’s left of their summer vacations.

Becca doesn’t know who is behind this, but she won’t let the Game Master win. But will she and her classmates be able to work together to solve the puzzles and escape their school before time runs out? Join YouTube’s favorite mystery solving team as they go toe-to-toe with the Game Master in the first book of this action-packed series from beloved YouTube creators Rebecca Zamolo and Matt Yoakum aka MattySlays, stars of the hugely popular Game Master Network.

Fans of StacyPlays’s Wild Rescuers series and Pat & Jen’s PopularMMOs Presents graphic novels will love this thrilling and engaging YouTube-inspired adventure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063025103
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/01/2021
Series:	Game Master
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Matt and Rebecca Zamolo, the stars and creators of the Game Master Network, are two of the most popular YouTubers in the world. With more than 30 million subscribers across their social media platforms, Matt and Rebecca have become stars with a highly engaged audience. To learn more, visit @MattandRebecca on YouTube, @TheGameMasterNetwork, and @RebeccaZamolo.

Editorial Reviews

2021-06-02
Sixth grade summer school turns into a scary escape room.

The six kids don’t know why they’re the only ones to show up for summer school today, but the empty building is seriously creeping them out. Can they just leave and enjoy the summer day? But something has happened to their class projects: Frankie’s “Leaning Tower of Cheese-a” has vanished, and so has Becca’s heirloom zoetrope, which is her nana’s prize possession. The classroom door slams shut and locks, and a voice over the loudspeaker tells them they need to solve puzzles if they ever want to leave the school or find the zoetrope. They’re herded by clues and shadowy figures around the building, where they’re repeatedly locked into rooms. Their antagonist escalates the challenges the more they solve: First it’s just a locked door with a code, then a chaotically furniture-filled gym, and eventually buckets of fake blood. Chapters alternate between the third-person points of view of Becca and Matt, the two White children. The other four kids—Vietnamese American Kylie; brown-skinned, bilingual Miguel (who has two moms); brown-skinned Danny; and nonbinary, brown-skinned Frankie—are just as central to the storyline, and there’s no clear narrative benefit to the alternating perspectives of the two blond children in particular. No questions are answered before the setup for the sequel. Most puzzles aren’t provided, so readers can’t join the solving process, and detail-oriented middle school readers will notice many incorrect details.

Flimsy puzzles plus unsolved mystery equals unsatisfying. (Suspense. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews