Crash Course (Hover Car Racer) - Softcover

Reilly, Matthew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416902260 ISBN 13: 9781416902263

Publisher: Aladdin, 2006

Synopsis

Wanting to be just as good a hover race car driver as his older brother, Bug, Jason joins the International Race School where his skills are put to the test by challenging instructors and fierce competitors, including the mysterious driver in black, in this illustrated, high-speed drama. Reprint.

About this title

About the Author

Matthew Reilly is the international bestselling author of eight novels: The 6 Sacred Stones, 7 Deadly Wonders, Ice Station, Temple, Contest, Area 7, Scarecrow, and the children's book Hover Car Racer, and one novella, Hell Island. His books are published in more than eighteen languages in twenty countries, and he has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide.

Pablo Raimondi moved to the United States from his native Argentina to pursue his dream of creating comic books. He has worked for both Marvel and DC Comics and has illustrated some of the top comic action figures, including Superman, Batman, and the X-Men. He lives in New York City.

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling author Reilly (Area 7; Ice Station) takes a rough detour into the world of children's books with the first book in the paper-over-board Hover Car Racer series, set in the near future ("Since hover technology required no gasoline to fuel it, the oil-producing countries of the Middle East crumbled"). Readers meet 14-year-old Australian Jason Chaser, who is determined to become a champion racer. His 12-year-old brother, Bug, serves as navigator for Jason during his races, though the brothers' relationship runs even deeper (the nearly autistic but mathematically brilliant Bug only communicates by whispering in Jason's ear). Jason places last in the Indo-Pacific Regional Championships, but nonetheless receives an invitation from Scott Syracuse, a famed ex-racer, to enter Race School and train to become a world-class racer. There Jason meets Ariel Piper, the only female student (resulting from a Citadel-esque legal coup), and he soon discovers that someone is sabotaging their cars. Jason races both to figure out who has it in for them and—against all odds—to win a coveted spot in the Sponsors' Event ("a feature race held in front of the schools' sponsors, benefactors, and famous ex-students"). Raimondi contributes stylized comic book-style pen-and-inks, and 3D maps of each race course begin various sections of the book. Unfortunately, racing clichés (e.g., the requisite photofinish), stock characters and a predictable plot make this feel like a treatment for a summer blockbuster movie. Ages 10-up. (June)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1416902260
• ISBN 13: 9781416902263
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240
• Illustrator: Raimondi Pablo