Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye

Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye
Author: Tania Del Rio
Illustrator: Will Staehle
Quirk Books
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
ISBN: 9-8-1-59474-803-5
Hardcover
2015
$ 16.95
225 pages

Some people just seem to be doomed.
Warren is a typical twelve-year-old. 
Unfortunately, both his parents are dead.
Fortunately, his Uncle Rupert is his guardian.
Unfortunately, his Uncle Rupert is married to Aunt Annaconda.
Warren is responsible for his ancestor's hotel.   Warren the 1st planned the building with his son, Warren the 2nd, who built the hotel.
For years, Warren's ancestral line has managed and kept the multitude of secrets hidden within its walls, even the all-seeing eye.  Being that Warren is a descendant of this prestigious lineage, he works endless hours maintaining his legacy.
Unfortunately, Uncle Rupert is lazy, and Aunt Annaconda is a witch.
Fortunately, the hotel has not a customer for five years.
Unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, an automobile is approaching the rambling, broken-down hotel.
The visitor doesn't speak, just communicates with cards.
Can the new tenant speak?   Why here?  Why now?
Why is the hotel suddenly full of customers?
Warren is a laughable children's book recommended for third to sixth-grade students.  Part Cinderella, part Wizard of Oz, part Series of Unfortunate Events, part comic book, part chapter book. Warren is just a fun book to read with a happy ending for everyone older than eight.  It might be scary to younger ones.
With a little bit of magic, Warren is an enchanting novel with an ordinary protagonist.   He is not handsome, smart, or charismatic, just hard-working and completely average.
As an adult, I could not put down the book.   The story pulls you in and just doesn't release you until the last page.  Even then, I wanted more.  (There is a sequel.)
Tabia Del Rio writes for Archie  Comics, Dark Horse, and Marvel.  This Los Angeles resident has also written and drawn the 42-issue of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
Illustrator Will Staehle has been an art director for Harper Collins Publishers creating book covers for many authors including Michael Chabon, Michael Crichton, and Christophe Buckley.  He now has his art studio in Seattle.
Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye is the perfect book for everyone with an intriguing storyline, illustrations that continue the visualization of the text, puzzles, riddles, mazes, the feeling of hope in good overcoming evil, all bundled up in a novel with a wicked sense of humor.