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The Challenge (Steel Trapp Series #1)

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The Challenge (Steel Trapp Series #1)

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Overview

In this riveting thriller, 14-year-old Steven "Steel" Trapp sets off with his mom and their dog, Cairo, on a 2-day Amtrak journey to compete in the National Science Competition in Washington, DC. Steel is both blessed and cursed with a remarkable photographic memory--just one look and whatever he sees is imprinted for keeps. Trying to be a good Samaritan on the train, he instead becomes embroiled in an ingenious, international plot of kidnapping and bribery that may have links to terrorists.

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423141143
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	11/29/2010
Series:	Steel Trapp Series , #1
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	562,477
Lexile:	660L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ridley Pearson is the author of more than two dozen novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Killer Summer, Killer View and Killer Weekend, the bestselling Lou Boldt crime series, and many books for young readers. He lives with his wife and two daughters, dividing his time between St. Louis, Missouri, and Hailey, Idaho.

Hometown:

St. Louis, Missouri

Date of Birth:

March 13, 1953

Place of Birth:

Glen Cove, New York

Education:

Kansas University, B.A., Brown University

Website:

http://www.ridleypearson.com/

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Editorial Reviews

Steve Trapp, nicknamed "Steel" for his photographic memory, is leaving Chicago for a science competition in Washington, D.C., when he sees a passenger detrain without her briefcase. The attempt to return it ensnares Steel in a scheme to rig the lottery on behalf of a terrorist group, and gets him tailed by Roland Larson, the U.S. marshal from Pearson's adult novel Cut and Run. Pearson's smooth writing isn't enough to paper over the many illogical elements in his plot. Why do the Trapps take their large dog on a two-day train trip for a three-day weekend? Why has the boy genius, Steel, not figured out by age 14 that his father isn't a salesman? Moreover, the event that triggers Steel's involvement just isn't convincing: by looking through a tiny hole in the bottom of the briefcase, he spies a Polaroid of a woman gagged and tied to a chair; later, he is able to find the building where she's being held by matching its windows to the background in the photo. Pearson mentions some intriguing science (for example, the use of cell phones and microchip technology to make balloons fly) and the adventure has its moments, but his mystery gets derailed by a plague of MacGuffins. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)
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Publishers Weekly

Pearson's second solo outing for young audiences resembles his adult thrillers-sans all of the sex and most of the violence-even featuring Federal Agent Roland Larson from Cut and Run (2005) in a supporting role. On his way to the finals of the National Science Challenge in Washington, D.C., geeky teen Steven "Steel" Trapp (named for his photographic memory) finds himself in possession of a briefcase that contains clues to a massive heist being engineered by mob and terrorist groups. His quest to solve those clues in time leads to chasing and being chased by both the baddies and the Feds. With help from equally geeky accomplice Kaileigh, plus a number of huge contrivances, he stays a step ahead until the suspenseful climax. The author's fondness for cliches ("There had to be a way. There just had to be." "We're into this one on a wing and a prayer") and his habit of repeating information already given, keep this out of the top drawer, but it's a brisk scramble nonetheless, crafted in no fewer than 80 chapters of quick prose and featuring both a (fairly) credible crime scenario and an engaging cast. (Fiction. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews

Here’s a thriller you might recommend to a young listener and then listen to yourself. Written by the creator of the well-regarded Lou Boldt series, it appears to be the first installment of a series in which the protagonist is age 14. Steven Trapp, nicknamed Steel because he has a photographic memory, is off to Washington, DC, for a science competition. There he becomes involved in a situation that suggests a terrorist plot is afoot. William Dufris has an ideal voice for most of the characters. He's equally believable as a female FBI agent and the 14-year-old hero. When he revs up the action, he’s at his best. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

JULY 2008 - AudioFile

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