Abby and Derick have been accepted to the most prestigious secondary school in the world Cragbridge Hall. Due to the inventions of their grandfather, Oscar Cragbridge, they will be able to experience history in 3D, use their minds to literally project visual interpretations of classic literature, and become animal avatars for zoology. But when their grandfather and parents go missing, Abby and Derick must follow clues Oscar left for them that will reveal a dangerous secret. Saving their family will take all of Derick s mind and Abby s heart as they come face to face with a crazed scientist who desperately seeks to change the past. If they fail, the world past and future will never be the same. (Amazon)
Reviewed by Valette M.
Generally speaking, I'm not a big fan
of middle grade. I grew out of the stuff long before I hit my teenage years,
and have only revisited it for real gems. But, to put it bluntly, I found THE INVENTOR'S SECRET to be one of these gems.
Chad Morris' characters were
remarkably believable and relateable. I've found a big thing that puts me off
about middle grade is that the plot, the world, and the adult characters are
all painted in a simplified middle gradish way. But in the Inventor's Secret,
the adults weren't simplified. They actually acted like adults. Of course the
kids still saved the day, but the adults weren't weak or stupid. And, even
better, the kids weren't whiny or stupid themselves. Many times, middle grade
author's try to emphasis something by emphasizing their characters' reactions
to it (The monster is scary because the kids act really scared of it, not
because it actually is scary). I'm happy to say, there was none of that in
here. In fact, it may have been one of the main character's normalness that
really drew me to this book. Abby (Derick's twin and the main focus of the
book) is average. She wasn't a genius like her brother, or all the other kids
at her school, and she could never think of witty things to say. But she still
was a hero, simply because she was willing to work for what she wanted. And
even though her brother Derick was a genius, he was lovable too. Originally I
thought Carol (Abby's friend) would get annoying, but she didn't. And her same
irritating traits added a nice flavor to the characters' interactions.
This was not high fantasy, but it was still a fun
journey and kept me reading till the end. I appreciated that the world and the
plot didn't revolve around the children. Without them, the world would have
been destroyed, but they didn't discover some secret power at the last moment
or another VooDoo, easy way out. Every victory was won by them as they were.
And time travel. I mean come on, what doesn't grab you about that? At first,
the plot may sound unoriginal, but Chad Morris successfully freshens
it up.
Chad Morris has written a fun story
with an aspect about it that makes the adventure genuine entertainment. The
action/reaction time throughout the book flowed smoothly, and the end tied up
satisfactorily while still leading nicely to a sequel. Quite thankfully, Chad
Morris lacks the patronizing tone that so many middle grade authors present to
their audience. To sum up, I found it an engaging book and, even though much
older that middle grade, was able to enjoy it thoroughly.
Market: Junior Fiction
Language: None
Sensuality: None
Violence: Mild
Mature Themes: Dealing with tragedy
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