The Gollywhopper Games: Friend or Foe

Zane is not very interested in the Gollywhopper Games, hosted annually by the Golly Toy and Game Company, where kids solve puzzles for money and prizes. He would rather play football. However, when a concussion forces Zane to take the year off, the Gollywhopper Games suddenly becomes a huge part of his life. Zane befriends Elijah, who is Zane’s total opposite, and their friendship thrives longer than anyone anticipated. Meanwhile, someone is sabotaging the Games, and the owners of the Golly Toy must figure out who it is before someone gets injured.

Although it is interesting to see how the characters from the first two books have developed, I was rather tired of the same story line again. While it does have some major changes from the previous books, the changes made this book about as puzzling as the puzzles themselves, perhaps more. The “how does this work” moments, and “what is going on” thoughts take away from the actual puzzles and good parts of the story. The unnecessary side-story of the Games being sabotaged is not nearly as interesting as the Games themselves. While some parts of this book were interesting, the book as a whole misses the mark.