Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I, Q: Book One: Independence Hall by Roland Smith

I believe that Roland Smith is one of the most underappreciated YA writers out there. Why? One reason is because I had never heard of this novel until it was nominated for Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Adventure list.  And I should have! I read Peak back in March and enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to the first book in this series, even though I didn't like the young boy picture on the front cover.  In the book, Q is 13 and his new step-sister is 15, so I'm not sure why the boy on the cover looks to be about 8.  That's a real detriment to potential readers.

Q and Angela become step-siblings at the beginning of this book and also go on tour with their rock-singing parents.  As if that's not fantastic enough, Angela's real mom was a secret service agent who was killed in action a few years before.  And that's where the adventure begins.  The siblings are thrust into a world of espionage, Israeli terrorists, politics, secrets, and violence. I really enjoyed the non-stop action and appreciated the plot twists that were simple enough for kids to understand, but complicated enough to hold my interest.

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