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There are plenty of quirky tourist attractions around the world, but no one does quirky attractions quite like Florida does. And in Home Sweet Motel, the first book in author Chris Grabenstein’s Welcome to Wonderland series, a family tries to keep one of those quirky tourist attractions from going out of business.
The story travels to St. Petersburg, Florida, where 11-year-old P. T. Wilkie is gearing up for a fun-filled spring break. Spring break means hanging out at the Wonderland Motel, where he lives with his mom and grandpa, and loading up on ice cream from his grandpa’s new pool-side ice cream machine. But when a couple of men in dark suits show up to inform P. T.’s mom that they’ll have to pay the bank a whole lot of money in one month’s time, the fun comes to a screeching halt—and P. T. and his new friend, Gloria, set out to find a way to save the Wonderland.
While P. T.’s mom tries to cut back on expenses (like the all-you-can-eat ice cream by the pool) and P. T.’s grandpa continues working on the motel’s next wacky attraction, P. T. and Gloria put their heads together to come up with some major money-making ventures. And the two of them make a pretty entertaining team: Gloria with her uncanny business sense and her love of CNBC and P. T. with his grandpa’s gift for telling a good story. Together, they’re able to come up with some outrageous schemes—the kind that seem so fitting for a state that’s filled with fairy tale characters and tourist shops in the form of giant pirates or citrus fruits.
What follows is wild and crazy and action-packed—and loaded with wacky twists. The characters are lovably eccentric—but not nearly as much as the Wonderland itself. Back in its early days, it was a major tourist attraction. People came to visit its gigantic statues, ride its train, and listen to the madcap tales told by P. T.’s grandpa, Walt Wilkie. But then that other Walt opened that other resort across the state, and things went downhill. The Wonderland has definitely seen better days, but these two kids are determined to keep the motel afloat—and maybe even return it to the attraction that it once was. As they come up with new schemes and attempt to hunt down decades-old treasure, readers of all ages will love following along on the adventure.
If you love the kitsch of a quirky roadside attraction and you enjoy reading about clever kids, you won’t want to miss this entertaining novel. You’ll root for the characters—and when it’s all over, you’ll be eager to pick up the follow-up.
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