The Gollywhopper Games: The New Champion by Jody Feldman

This book is the first in a new series, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Cameron wins a chance to compete for one million dollars. It's like the golden ticket in the Willy Wonka story, but there are 900,000 contestants, including Cameron's brother. Each round of the contest requires Cameron to solve puzzles and riddles, and it's all caught on camera. He makes some friends along the way, but some other competitors make things difficult and uncomfortable. Slowly, other kids are sent home, and Cameron gets closer to the  life-changing prize. As a twist, there is a spy who is poisoning the contest.

This book is made for puzzle lovers. Every part of the plot allows readers to see the clues along with the characters and to try coming up with the correct answers. The characters' bonding and conflicts keeps things interesting. The climax was a little surprising, and the resolution was very unexpected.