by Dee Garretson
ages: 10+
First sentence: “The roar came from deep in the earth, growing louder as it raced toward the surface.”
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Review copy sent to me by the publisher.

Luke Brockett is the president’s son. It’s not too bad; he doesn’t get to see his dad much, but he has really cool Secret Service agents hanging around. Not to mention a pretty cool best friend, Theo, who loves to work on robots as much as Luke does. They’re up at Camp David, enjoying some quiet time, when an earthquake along the New Madrid fault wreaks havoc in much of Missouri.

They feel aftershocks in Maryland as well, and it’s those aftershocks (as well as some terrible coincidences) that start a wildfire in the forest surrounding Camp David. Soon, the situation is dire, and by another string of terrible coincidences, Luke, Theo and the daughter of one of the chefs, Callie, are stranded on their own, with the fire closing in, and their lives depend on figuring out how to get out of Camp David.

This book read like an action movie: fast paced, maybe a little bit predictable, and incredibly tense. There wasn’t much character development, though there was a bit for Luke; mostly it was the characters jumping through one hoop after another to solve the big problem of how to get to safety. Don’t get me wrong: it was both a gripping concept and fascinating to watch the three kids problem solve. I’m not sure how plausible it all is, but I’m also not sure it really mattered. Implausable? So what? It’s intense, it’s fun, it’s a page-turner.

Perfect for when you need something exciting.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)