Crash Course (Hover Car Racer Series #1)

by Matthew Reilly, Pablo Raimondi (Illustrator)

Overview

Imagine twenty fighter jets racing around a twisting, turning aerial track, ducking and weaving and passing at insanely high speeds, and you've just imagined a hover car race.

Fourteen-year-old Jason Chaser is a hover car racing phenom who against the odds has been admitted to the prestigious International Race School. With his kid brother, Bug, who doesn't speak, as his navigator, he's competing against the best of the best, including his hometown rival, the obnoxious Barnaby Becker; the fiercely determined Ariel Piper, the first girl ever admitted to the school; and a mysterious driver in black, who never seems to lose. With tyrannical instructors, sabotaged equipment, and the most intense competition he's ever faced, can Jason prevail?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416902256
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	06/28/2005
Series:	Hover Car Racer Series , #1
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	930L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

Bestselling author Reilly (Area 7; Ice Station) takes a rough detour into the world of children's books with the first book in the paper-over-board Hover Car Racer series, set in the near future ("Since hover technology required no gasoline to fuel it, the oil-producing countries of the Middle East crumbled"). Readers meet 14-year-old Australian Jason Chaser, who is determined to become a champion racer. His 12-year-old brother, Bug, serves as navigator for Jason during his races, though the brothers' relationship runs even deeper (the nearly autistic but mathematically brilliant Bug only communicates by whispering in Jason's ear). Jason places last in the Indo-Pacific Regional Championships, but nonetheless receives an invitation from Scott Syracuse, a famed ex-racer, to enter Race School and train to become a world-class racer. There Jason meets Ariel Piper, the only female student (resulting from a Citadel-esque legal coup), and he soon discovers that someone is sabotaging their cars. Jason races both to figure out who has it in for them and-against all odds-to win a coveted spot in the Sponsors' Event ("a feature race held in front of the schools' sponsors, benefactors, and famous ex-students"). Raimondi contributes stylized comic book-style pen-and-inks, and 3D maps of each race course begin various sections of the book. Unfortunately, racing clich s (e.g., the requisite photofinish), stock characters and a predictable plot make this feel like a treatment for a summer blockbuster movie. Ages 10-up. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 4-8-Jason Chaser, 14, and his shy but brilliant 12-year-old brother (nicknamed "The Bug") are the youngest driver-and-navigator hover-car racing team invited to attend the prestigious International Race School in Tasmania. What they lack in age, though, they make up for in skill, determination, and ingenuity. And having a world-class star like Scott Syracuse as a mentor does not hurt. However, the Australian brothers are not really prepared for the mean-spirited and downright terrifying treatment they receive upon arrival. Sure, hover-car racing is a dangerous sport, but when the competition is intent on physically destroying you, your chances of survival are reduced pretty dramatically. The first in a series, this futuristic adventure (with appealing illustrations by a Marvel Comics veteran) is certainly fast-paced, action-packed, and (thankfully) slim. Reilly's writing, though, is painfully sloppy and the text is heavy with groan-inducing clich s. This novel seems to find its only true inventiveness in Reilly's descriptions of the vehicles and rules involved in this sport. An acceptable addition to a fast-and-easy section for the 10- to 14-year-old set, but by no means a "must-have."-Jeff Katz, Queens Borough Public Library, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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