Saturday, April 29, 2017

In Over Their Heads by Margaret Haddix - OPTIONAL

Haddix, Margaret In Over Their Heads, 307 pages.  Simon & Schuster, 2017.  $17.  Content: G (tense moments)

Nick and Eryn (humans) have met their step-siblings Ava and Jackson, robots.  And they have found the secret history and instruction inside Mammoth Cave.  Right away, things start going wrong.  Jackson goes haywire and needs new parts, so he goes with his Dad to town.  Dad gets reconnected to the robot net and learns terrible news.  Back at the cave, a young stranger turns up who gives the group some help and information and then disappears.  The siblings are wrestling with big issues, but when the action starts, its forward clip is breath-taking.

The first 2/3 of this book moves steadily, interesting, if a bit slow.  When Nick uncovers another giant secret within the caves, the action suddenly takes off at a dizzy pace, moving even faster as you approach the end to the point my brain couldn’t believe what my eyes had read.  Instead of feeling satisfied, like at the end of a roller coaster, I just felt confused.  I needed another 25 – 50 pages to make sense of where this story ended.

EL,  MS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

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