Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Encyclopedia
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians is a juvenile fiction novel by Brandon Sanderson
, published in October 2007 by Scholastic Press
. The book is named after its main character, Alcatraz Smedry.
The book starts with Alcatraz setting fire to his foster parent's kitchen. It is revealed that he has been sent to countless of foster parents, all ending up with Alcatraz "destroying" things that were precious to the people taking care of him. Ms. Fletcher, Alcatraz's personal caseworker then arrives at his recent foster parent's home and scolds him about destroying his foster parent's kitchen and leaves.
The next day, however, an old man knocks on the door and claims to be his grandfather and tells Alcatraz that he has a special, but powerful talent for breaking things. He later finds out that there is a special force called the Librarians, whose purpose is to conquer the remaining Free Kingdomers and rule the world.
Alcatraz has the talent of breaking things.
Grandpa Smedry, Alcatraz's grandfather, has the power to arrive late to appointments. As such, he is always running behind the clock. But his power also allows him to arrive late to other things, like bullets, which always miss him, and his blood can arrive late to wounds so that he doesn't bleed to death. In his own words "I've been arriving late to my own death for years now."
Sing, Alcatraz's cousin, has the talent of falling down at opportune moments. And, while it is admitted that this is less powerful than Alcatraz or Grandpa's talents, it allows Sing to make amazing diversions while the others slip by Librarian eyes undetected. Sing can also tell when danger is approaching by uncontrollably falling down.
Quentin, another cousin, has the talent to speak gibberish or nonsensical phrases. His talent was beneficial after being captured by the librarians, as they could not understand him and thus could not gain important information from him, even through torture. It was through some of Quentin's supposed gibberish that Alcatraz was prompted to know what do to in future events.
Smedrys from ancient days had grand talents, though relatively unexplained. One could get water on the floor while doing dishes, which allowed her to end a drought. Another could make rude noises at innapropriate moments, breaking enemies concentration so they could not use weapons.
was released in the United States November 1, 2008. A third Alcatraz called Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia
was released on October 1, 2009. The fourth book's title is Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens
and was released on December 1, 2010. Brandon Sanderson has revealed that he intends to write five Alcatraz books, though Scholastic has only commissioned four so far.
Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson is an American fantasy author. A Nebraska native, he currently resides in American Fork, Utah. He earned his Master's degree in Creative Writing in 2005 from Brigham Young University, where he was on the staff of Leading Edge, a semi-professional speculative fiction magazine...
, published in October 2007 by Scholastic Press
Scholastic Press
Scholastic is a global book publishing company known for publishing educational materials for schools, teachers, and parents, and selling and distributing them by mail order and via book clubs and book fairs. It also has the exclusive United States' publishing rights to the Harry Potter book...
. The book is named after its main character, Alcatraz Smedry.
Plot summary
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians is a young teen novel which tells the story of Alcatraz Smedry, a young teen who is always breaking things. After receiving a bag of sand for his thirteenth birthday, he stumbles into a strange set of events which begins with a group of librarians stealing his bag of sand, which turns out to be rather unusual sand.The book starts with Alcatraz setting fire to his foster parent's kitchen. It is revealed that he has been sent to countless of foster parents, all ending up with Alcatraz "destroying" things that were precious to the people taking care of him. Ms. Fletcher, Alcatraz's personal caseworker then arrives at his recent foster parent's home and scolds him about destroying his foster parent's kitchen and leaves.
The next day, however, an old man knocks on the door and claims to be his grandfather and tells Alcatraz that he has a special, but powerful talent for breaking things. He later finds out that there is a special force called the Librarians, whose purpose is to conquer the remaining Free Kingdomers and rule the world.
Characters
The plot of the book revolves around the title character and a small group of freedom fighters operating against the cult of evil librarians that secretly rule the world. These freedom fighters include Alcatraz's grandfather, Leavenworth, usually just referred to as "Grandpa Smedry"; Bastille, Grandpa's bodyguard and a Crystin Knight; Sing Sing - Sing for short - Alcatraz's Polynesian cousin; and Quentin, another cousin. The Librarians include Shasta / Ms. Fletcher, Alcatraz's case worker, who turns out to also be Alcatraz's mother, and Radrian Blackburn, a Dark Oculator. Another is Roy, one of his foster parents and Joan, one of his foster parents.Smedry Talents
In the course of the book, it is revealed that Alcatraz's biological family, the Smedries, all are born with amazing talents that they use to combat the evil cult of librarians.Alcatraz has the talent of breaking things.
Grandpa Smedry, Alcatraz's grandfather, has the power to arrive late to appointments. As such, he is always running behind the clock. But his power also allows him to arrive late to other things, like bullets, which always miss him, and his blood can arrive late to wounds so that he doesn't bleed to death. In his own words "I've been arriving late to my own death for years now."
Sing, Alcatraz's cousin, has the talent of falling down at opportune moments. And, while it is admitted that this is less powerful than Alcatraz or Grandpa's talents, it allows Sing to make amazing diversions while the others slip by Librarian eyes undetected. Sing can also tell when danger is approaching by uncontrollably falling down.
Quentin, another cousin, has the talent to speak gibberish or nonsensical phrases. His talent was beneficial after being captured by the librarians, as they could not understand him and thus could not gain important information from him, even through torture. It was through some of Quentin's supposed gibberish that Alcatraz was prompted to know what do to in future events.
Smedrys from ancient days had grand talents, though relatively unexplained. One could get water on the floor while doing dishes, which allowed her to end a drought. Another could make rude noises at innapropriate moments, breaking enemies concentration so they could not use weapons.
Sequels
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's BonesAlcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones is a juvenile fiction novel by Brandon Sanderson, published in November 2008 by Scholastic Press. It is preceded by Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians.-Plot summary:...
was released in the United States November 1, 2008. A third Alcatraz called Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia
Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia
Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia is a juvenile fiction novel by Brandon Sanderson, published in October 2009 by Scholastic Press. It is the third book in the Alcatraz Series following Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians in 2007 and Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones in 2008.-Plot...
was released on October 1, 2009. The fourth book's title is Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens
Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens
Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens is a juvenile fiction novel by Brandon Sanderson, published in December 2010 by Scholastic Press. It is the fourth book in the Alcatraz Versus series featuring the protagonist Alcatraz Smedry....
and was released on December 1, 2010. Brandon Sanderson has revealed that he intends to write five Alcatraz books, though Scholastic has only commissioned four so far.