YA/middle reader book set in a hotel?

April 7, 2023 8:07 AM

My daughter (9) is trying to find an audiobook she listened to, but can't remember the title or all that much of the content.

Here's what we think we know:

~ Main character is a young boy, probably middle school age
~ Set in a hotel where the protagonist lives
~ Might be a mix of mystery and comedy
~ Protagonist might either inherit the hotel or be gifted ownership
~ Protagonist's name might be something like Merganser ("I know that's the name of a duck, but I think that's his name, too.")

Google has been very unhelpful so far, but I believe in the collective power of the hive!

posted by that's candlepin to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

It sounds kind of like The Westing Game.
posted by mochapickle at 8:31 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Doesn't quite check all your boxes, but it sounded to me like Secrets of the Hotel Maisonneuve.
posted by xedrik at 8:36 AM on April 7, 2023

I don't think it's Greenglass House but...is it Greenglass House?
posted by blnkfrnk at 8:41 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Probably not Front Desk, but here's my recommendation for that.
posted by jocelmeow at 9:09 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow (Morrigan lives at the Hotel Deucalion. Morrigan is a girl, but other than that it seems to fit your description.)
posted by belladonna at 9:33 AM on April 7, 2023

It's not Suite Scarlett, is it? (The protagonist in that one is also a girl, though.)
posted by Countess Sandwich at 10:04 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It is Floors by Patrick Carman. The protagonist is named Leo but the person who built the hotel is Merganzer D. Whippet! There are 3 books and I am not sure if Merganzer is in all three of them or not.
posted by soelo at 10:34 AM on April 7, 2023 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: It's gotta be Floors! What's weird is that it's not available from our local library, so I have no idea how we listened to it.

All other answers here are excellent and useful suggestions, too, so thank you all!
posted by that's candlepin at 11:08 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Re: where it came from, would you have gotten it as a downloadable audiobook from the library, especially via Overdrive/Libby? Licenses expire and things that may have been available a few years ago may no longer appear due to not being repurchased by your library. The same thing for audiobook CDs, actually, although there it is wear and tear and things no longer being in print for CD repurchase.
posted by lizard music at 11:20 AM on April 7, 2023 [4 favorites]