By: Matthew J. Kirby
Reported by: Roark Helms
Source: ARC via Scholastic
Publishing date: January 28th, 2014
After Ben Warner is recruited to join a “science camp” led by the eccentric quantum physicist Dr. Madeleine Hughes, he quickly realizes it’s no regular science camp. Along with his new friend, Peter, Ben discovers the secret, powerful art of Actuation—the ability to change reality by simply imagining it differently.
When a mysterious group of men invade Dr. Hughes’s laboratory, abducting her and stealing her precious equipment, Ben and Peter are suddenly caught up in a turf war between dangerous actuators desperate for Dr. Hughes’s innovative technology. And as Ben and Peter are pulled into a perilous, hidden world full of impossibilities now made possible, will their combined powers be enough to save Dr. Hughes and vanquish their enemies before it’s too late?
From Edgar Award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby comes a fast-paced, boldly imagined tale of friendship, deadly adventure, and the infinite power of imagination.
-Summary from Goodreads
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In the words of my 11-year-old brother:
I would rate this book four out of five.
The characters: Ben is really freaking cool. He was way ahead of Peter, who was already ahead of everyone else. Sasha is okay but I think she was acting sort of bossy and I don't really like bossy people. Peter is actually kind of immature because there will always be someone who is better than you and so you should just try to do your best instead of whine about it.
The story: The plot is very interesting and cool but I'm just wondering... why did it take 160 pages for things to get really interesting? The beginning felt so slow and the book would be five out of five if the beginning didn't take so long to get good. I can stand the characters because everyone makes mistakes but I am not very patient. I am glad I read on though. I do think the plot is cool because it tells you how Ben learned Actuation and how and what the Quantum League does what it does. I think that what a really smart thing that the author did was how in the beginning I didn't know who was the antagonist and so that led to a lot of mystery, which I really enjoyed.
There we go! Thank you Roark, and thank you Scholastic for providing us with a copy of this fantastic book. I can't wait to dive into it myself as it sounds extremely promising as a sci-fi middle grade! ^.^ I'll be back to review more YA next month but until then, I wish everyone happy holidays and the best new year yet! :D
P.S. Please don't kill me for my constant absence. T.T Sometimes I really hate school...
