The engine room Solve your way out! : use your engineering skills to escape!

Fans of puzzles, games, and escape rooms will have a blast solving their way through this entry in the Escape! series (5 titles). Readers stand in for the protagonist as they enjoy a trip to a ship on a navy base; but after they leave their lunch on the ship, they go back--and find themselves locked in. To escape, readers will have to solve puzzles. Clues are found spread throughout the book, along with a special notebook that provides information on topics explored, such as barometers, simple machines, cogs, engineering drawings, and ship steering. Readers learn as they work through the puzzles, and if they get stuck, a page with hints provides three clues per location (answers are also provided). Exciting clues and colorful spreads make this eye-catching and inescapably interesting.

Gr 7--10--A series that uses interactive STEAM puzzles to escape a fictional place. An animated style is used for the setting, clues, and puzzles, "The only exit appears to be the door you came through, which has now clicked shut," while paragraphs and notes throughout are used to relay information. The story takes readers to each setting to gather clues that can be referred back to; each level passes leads to the next and can connect to past levels. Each title has a hints page followed by an answers page. Topics range from art to hacking and everything in between using STEAM practices. While the interactive puzzles may be difficult to do for some, especially alone, the activities are reminiscent of escape rooms and mystery games, which may help bring educational subjects to life. VERDICT Supplemental series that combines school subjects with practical use through STEAM puzzles that could be done alone or with a group.