Carlos's Scavenger Hunt

Disney Descendants: School of Secrets #5

by Walt Disney Company

The School of Secrets series of chapter books continues the story of Mal and her friends, plus new Villain kids and Auradon kids. Enjoy these all-new tales of mystery, magic and adventure from the world of the hit movie Descendants 2!

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Fiction, Retellings, Childrens, Fairy Tales

183 pages, Hardcover

First published November 14, 2017

About the author

Note: The decision was made to consolidate all Disney publications under the name Walt Disney Company. This profile is for Walt Disney, the characters he created, and the company he founded. Any questions, please ask in the Librarian's Group.

Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.

Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, a character for which Disney himself was the original voice. He has been awarded four honorary Academy Awards and has won twenty-two competitive Academy Awards out of fifty-nine nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards. He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong.

Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California, on December 15, 1966. The following year, construction began on Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. His brother Roy Disney inaugurated the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) (commonly referred to as Disney) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5. On December 31, 2009, Disney Company acquired the Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

--from Wikipedia

Reviews

[David Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved the book it was kind of sad and cool at the same time!

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book in the series. I really enjoyed the series. I think that the author did an amazing job bring in the characters to life.

[Max Lingwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great builder in terms of the Descendants universe!

Personally, I am not that huge on the Descendants Franchise. This probably has to do with the fact that I am a young man, and its demographic is not mine 😂 However, I have seen all three films so I thought I would see if the book(s) were good? 😂

Carlos is one of the most dull characters in the films. He does not do much in any of the three of them and is definitely a side character. This is why I chose his book to read.

Carlos is craving to be a leader. He is always following other people’s commands and finally wants the spot light. Just before he left the Isle of the Lost, his mother, Cruella De Vil, gave him a magical dog collar. This collar will make whoever wears it able to command others like a dog.... I’m not surprised this isn’t in the movie 😂

Carlos wants to be a leader of this years Scavenger hunt. Therefore, he ‘uses’ his dog collar on the Fairy Godmother to make himself a leader of a team. His team consists of Jane and Evie as well. However, after losing constantly, Carlos uses his dog collar to command others to give him what he wants.

This is really out of character for him compared to the movies. He admits he did wrong and hands the collar to the Fairy Godmother. But.... she still lets him continue with the competition. 😃

This is great for children as the message of being a leader and leadership is really valuable and easy to pick up with this book. This book is also easy to pick and read anyway, containing nothing that is too hard for its demographic to understand.

Finally, Carlo’s team wins and have their names put into stone. The fact he doesn’t want to be captain but says that it was a team effort helped the message of this book.

Overall, I actually kinda enjoy this book 😂 it certainly isn’t anything fancy for me. But for fans of the Descendants franchise, it would probably be worth a read.

3/5 Stars

Quick Note: They add a lot of random new characters in this book. I had to look up who they were!

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still enjoying these Descendants books for kids! This one was a little predictable with the contest but it still gave off a good message. I started this book and only read a few pages a few days ago. Then I picked it up today and breezed right through it. It's a very quick and easy read that I think all fans will enjoy!!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is both interesting and exciting. This is a fun addition to the series, it offers an entertaining and heartfelt adventure. For me, it has an interesting plot, well-developed characters, and positive themes. This book tells the story of a school holding a scavenger hunt and they are divided into teams to complete it. I personally like the ending, where Carlos' team won, Carlos and his friends celebrate their victory and reflect on the lessons they have learned. They weren't too confident about winning, but they still tried their best. It made me realizes the importance of friendship, leadership and loyalty. Carlos learns to believe in himself and his abilities, growing stronger and more confident in the process. I read this book when I was in elementary school. Took me few years to read this book as I was bored to read it at first as I didn't understand what it was talking about. But when I tried to understand the book better, I enjoyed the book.

[Hannah Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It was a easy read. I love that it helps kids understand the meaning of the word "leader" and "leadership." Also how it lets the reader know to always be yourself and to be nice and kind to others and your friends.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

****SPOILER ALERT
I Loved this book! It was very fun to read. It was unpredictable to me. The end was such a surprise! I never would have thought that boy would make Carlos win! In the beginning,i have to say,i felt bad for Evie till I realized what happened.

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So It was the best book ever and he does use the coller but then forfiet the game because he cheated. So sad it was the last book.

[Jen Desmarais · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It was a lot of fun.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story of friendship and leadership! I enjoyed reading this with my 6 year old.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was cute. My daughter and I loved the focus on Carlos, who is such a great character.

[Cathy Andrea]

I like that Carlos, Jane, and Evie work to together to find the things on the list

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is surely a side of Carlos you don't get in the movie

[Bella Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was delightful! It made me happy 😊

[Sadistic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book series, it was definitely like being inside the descendants movies but like more in depth

[Matt]

My favourite out of these 5 spin-off books.

[Tiffany Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carlos Scavenger Hunt
Just before leaving the Isle of the Lost, Carlos mother (Cruella Deville) gives him a magic, dog, collar that gives the wearer the power to give commands and have them obeyed. Carlos not thinking he’ll need it puts it away with the rest of his things and forgets about it.

A scavenger hunt is announced at Auradon Prep and Carlos finally sees his chance to be the leader and not just the guy everyone comes with advice or technical matters. Because he doesn’t think he has a chance of getting picked and it will probably go to Jane (Fairy Godmother’s daughter) he decides to give the magic, dog, collar a try. And what do you know he’s chosen.

The first prize will be a stone with the team leader’s name carved in it (to go with the other past winners) in the courtyard. The other members of the team are Jane and Evie. Carlos sets off to find every item on the list (in chronological order) and finds the first two items with ease. Yet Evie is distracted and once they get to the third (posing in the window of Belle’s boutique) they miss their chance to distract the shop owner, she catches, them and they have to leave.

They fall behind a little more when they stop to help a fan boy of Carlos’s whose crying at the train station, where they’re supposed to snap a shot of a Charming train ticket. Frustrated and running out of time, Carlos uses the dog collar on two of the more impossible events 1) Getting Grumpy to pose for a selfie 2) Getting Lumiere’s recipe for “the gray stuff”. But Jane notices the dog collar when Carlos trips. He reluctantly confesses and feels guilty (because he likes her).

So, he goes to Fairy Godmother to eliminate himself. But she tells him the magic didn’t work on her and she already saw his leadership abilities from the start and how much the students liked him. So the hunt is back on. Evie daringly secures a piece of front from a hazel berry tree outside Carlos’s dorm by finding the perfect pair of shoes and balancing herself on the roof.

With minutes left Jane confesses she knows about one of the items (a violet pixie fork) because she saw a jar full of them when she interned for Carlotta Potts. But she didn’t think Carlotta liked her very much because she never gave her a compliment. Upset because of his feelings for Jane, Carlos storms off to get Jane the compliment she deserves (or rather give Carlotta a piece of his mind). But it turns out Carlotta was just absent minded. She thought Jane was one of the best assistants she ever had and gives her one of the forks as a reward. Carlos’s team wins because an unexpected item was gained and not noticed. The lady boy at the station was wearing a old Aradon Prep gym shirt that belonged to his father.

My Thoughts:
I liked the hunt items. They were very creative. I thought maybe they should be given until the end of the day to secure them all though. And I had to wonder why Tiana and Naveen’s daughter or son wasn’t created as a student. But I won’t go there on a rant. Though it does give you something to think about. She could have easily gotten the recipe for Tianna’s gumbo (or he). I knew the boy would be important later in the story. I knew he had one of the items, but I was thinking there would be a ticket in either his hand or his mother’s hand in the shot-and that would count-. So I didn’t see the tee-shirt reveal coming. I think Carlos showed great potential as a leader in this. He just needed to listen to what his other team mates had to say once and a while. Several times Evie spoke up and he shut her ideas down. I know a little something about being a team leader and you never know what great contributions your team while make if you give them a chance. You may not agree with everything they say, but you have to be open minded. Evie may have actually known a way to get the selfie, and they could have gotten the hazel fruit sooner and had more time to get some of the other items. But it all worked out in the end.

Rating: 7

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how the gym t shirt was on the boy who they helped out.... showing the rewards of just helping without anything in return 3.5