| Stormbreaker (Alex Rider Series #1) |
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What You Need to Know:
• This is a great series for your independent reader, about age 10 and up.
• This series has been groundbreaking for my ten year old. This is the first set of books that has him reading in the
middle of the day, keeping him up at night, all without me bugging him to read!
• I have heard this series described, aptly, as James Bond for kids.
• It is realistic fiction, perfect for boys and girls who aren't into all the fantasy fiction that is flooding the children's book
market.
• As of 2/10, there are nine books in the series. |
Sweet Book Summary:
Our protagonist, Alex Rider, is a fourteen year old British orphan who is being raised by his bank manager uncle, Ian. At the opening of this novel, the first in the series, Uncle Ian dies in a car crash. We quickly learn Ian was no ordinary bank manager, but a spy operative in Britain's elite intelligence agency, the MI6. We also learn it was no ordinary car crash.
Thus begins the adventure. This is a good, old-fashioned thriller, think Tom Clancy for kids. This is the type of novel, if for adults, would be sold in airports. But what fun it is! And addicting. It is a nice antidote to all the fantasy fiction out there for intermediate readers. If you are like me, and have a kid who is not into Harry Potter and the like, there isn't a lot to chose from, so thank goodness for Anthony Horowitz. And I have to say, I didn't mind reading it at all myself.
Finally, it is a bit scary, in a realistic - but never going to happen to me - kind of way. Alex is thrown into the spy business somewhat against his will, to finish what his Uncle started when he got killed. Alex is trained and sent on a mission to find out what is going on with a batch of computers called Stormbreakers. An Egyptian national has suddenly decided to donate a Stormbreaker to every English school child and the MI6 smells a rat. The MI6 needs to finish investigating what Uncle Ian was close to solving and decide, in their ultimate wisdom, to send a 14 year old in to do the job. Alex Rider gets the job done, but not without swimming through a flooded mine, outrunning 2 assassins, witnessing a couple murders, etc. The finale, when he is thrown into a tank with a Portuguese man-of-war is perhaps the most chilling. But, what an adventure! Just make sure your reader can handle it. |
Author: Anthony Horowitz Illustrator: N/A Published: 2006, 256 pages
Themes: Adventure, Books for Boys, Bullying, Mystery |
If You Liked This Book, Try:
Point Blank (Alex Rider Adventure), Anthony Horowitz
Skeleton Key (Alex Rider Adventure), Anthony Horowitz
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Capture the Flag
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