While on the internet I often pretend to be a 13 year old girl, I am, in fact 25 and a man. This doesn't exactly make me the prime audience for Brandon Sanderson's children/YA books, but I'll do my best to make a review.

Alcatraz is a young boy who breaks things. Radios. Televisions. Chickens. He can’t seem to touch anything without it breaking. He’s an orphan, who upon his 13th birthday receives his inheritance in the mail from his father…a bag of sand. Oh, and did I mention that there are evil librarians seeking to conquer the world and spread their lies about its history? These books are comedic fantasy, very well written for a young audience, and fun for the whole family. There are two books out so far, with a third planned for the end of this year, and a fourth tentatively planned for some time in 2010.

I enjoyed the humor in them, so I'm sure that a younger person would think they're hilarious. The pacing's right where it needs to be for a younger audience, and I'm very impressed that he can write for a younger audience so well, considering the epic nature of his previous work. All in all, I'd give them 4 out of 5, and would heartily suggest them to anyone who's a kid at heart, interested in the young adult genre, or just likes to laugh.

The first book is called Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, in case you're looking to start at the beginning (probably a smart way to go).