The Challenge

January 28, 2008
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.

January 1, 2008
Steven Steel Trappso nicknamed for a photographic memory tight as a steel trap is aboard a train on his way to the National Science Challenge in Washington, D.C., when he unwittingly runs afoul of a gangster with ties to overseas terrorist organizations. Steve joins forces with Kaileigh, a runaway, and the two take it upon themselves to rescue a woman they suspect is being held hostage. Now they just need to figure out by whom, and for what reason, all the while dodging meddling adultsfrom an overprotective mom and harried nanny to various federal agentstripping over themselves, even as they stay one step behind Steel and Kaileigh. As the plot accelerates toward the conclusion, Steel realizes, This is just like Spy Kids! a serviceable benchmark. Pearsons leap into the youth thriller market is less successful than the Peter Pan books he coauthored with Dave Barry, but this has imaginative plot twists, and is a kid-friendly take on a familiar genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2008
Steven "Steel" Trapp has a photographic memory. This helps him in school but also leads him into danger: after witnessing a crime, Steel and his friend Kaileigh find themselves mixed up in a cloak-and-dagger operation where their combined smarts and his memory are all that can keep them safe. Though overwritten, this fast-paced adventure will hold readers' attention.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)