Janitors Book Three ~ Curse Of The Broom Staff by Tyler Whiteside ~ review

• Series: Janitors
• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Shadow Mountain (September 10, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1609076052
• ISBN-13: 978-1609076054

To purchase a copy of "Curse Of The Broom Staff" click here.

A secret society of Janitors with wizard-like powers continue their battle, and now, the stakes are even higher. The Bureau of Educational Maintenance is after Alan Zumbro and this time they mean business - deadly business. Spencer, Daisy, and their little team of rebels must find the source of all magical Glop and destroy it before it can destroy the world as we know it. No small task with the BEM and their monster toxites at their heels. It's a wild and dangerous ride as they follow the trail of clues all the way to the hiding place of the mysterious aurans: guardians of a secret landfill. What they discover there will change the way

Spencer sees himself, not to mention the fate of the rebels.

My take on this book:
I have always enjoyed a good fantasy read, but I started this book with a bit of trepidation because it is the third book in Tyler Whiteside's  Janitors series. I will say that it did take me several chapters to figure out just who the characters were, and what was going on but once I did I had no problems falling right into this story. Spencer Zumbro and his friend Daisy Gates are twelve year olds who find themselves a part of a secret society that use magical Glop, vacuum dust, chalkboard dust among other "dirty"weapons as they go on missions to thwart the enemy. While sitting in class Spencer has a vision and knows that he must warn his dad, so Spencer and Daisy decide to leave school, but get caught and thus suspended, which ultimately allows them to go on the next mission. Will they be able to get the message to Spencer's dad in time? Will they be able to stop the BEM from proceeding with their evil plans against education? 

Middle school children are going to find themselves totally absorbed in this story, the main characters are twelve years old, sometimes funny and also very relatable. I thought the differences in Spencer and Daisy's background balanced out well. I also felt like the parental relationships were well done. The magic weapons that are at the Janitors disposal are just everyday things such as plungers, mops and brooms that are magical. Action, adventure and fantasy make this a story perfect for the younger set. Short easy to read chapters, well written characters, and a great use of descriptive words and phrases really bring the story to life. I was able to understand this book but probably would have enjoyed it much more had I read the first two books in the series. Overall, with such a well written third book I can just imagine that the entire series would be well worth reading. I enjoyed this book so much that I will be going back to read the first two in the series!