Gadgets and Gears, Bk 2: The Ire of Iron Claw: Gadgets and Gears, Book 2

Fantastic, and a lot of fun. Highly recommended for young readers who love adventure.

The Kennewickett family is back, with Noodles the dachshund narrating this second adventure. Wally Kennewickett defeated the evil Madini and the pigeon Iron Claw in The Mesmer Menace but they haven't seen the end of these villains. In fact, now Madini and Iron Claw are determined to take revenge against Wally and they are using secret passages in the inn that the Automated Inn that the family wasn't even aware of to spy on Wally and to sabotage the Kennewicketts' automatons. This time the adventure takes them far from the Automated Inn, across treacherous skies and over snowy mountains with famed scientist Nikola Tesla in a race to foil Madini and Iron Claw's evil plans once again.This is a fun, action-packed story, filled with steam-punk trappings and pseudo-scientific wonders of all kinds. The characters are quirky and humor is liberally sprinkled throughout. The second book in the Gadgets and Gears series does not disappoint. Great for middle grades and read alouds.

The Mesmers are evil magicians intend on taking over the world. Inventor Nikola Tesla , the Kennewicketts, Wally, and others intend to stop them. They must go through a lot to stop them.The novel is second in the series. They go through a series of adventures. The book has done black and white illustrations that they could have been better presented. The writing has plenty of diversions rather than straight storytelling. The writing is more action driven than character driven. The book should also offer a map to help the younger readers.If the young reader seeks an action driven adventure about robots and automatons, this book is for you.

I usually enjoy Steampunk tales so I eagerly grabbed this even though it is the second book in the series after  The Mesmer Menace . It was fun with lots of amazing gadgets, but it was a little short on coherent plot. What's more, it is rarely a good idea for a series to have the same villains in every book. The Mesmer Menace

This was a very fun steampunk adventure. I had as much fun reading with my son as he did. Kersten Hamilton has done a great job balancing a more intricate story with a pace and vocabulary perfect for young readers.