Friday, March 16, 2018

Clem Hetherington and the Ironwood Race by Jen Breach -OPTIONAL

Breach, Jen Clem Hetherington and the Ironwood Race, 208 pages.  GRAPHIC NOVEL.  Graphix (Scholastic), 2018.  $8. Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

Clementine and her robot brother Digory are orphans. They have archeology in their hearts, but no one will give them a chance because they are children. When they meet up with a family friend, he tells them about a secret archeology competition, with amazing prizes. This is their chance to avoid the orphanage and get the recognition in archeology they deserve. But first they will have to use their race car to out maneuver the competition.

I so wanted to love this book, a girl archeologist who drives a race car –that’s right up my alley. But this book was mostly about car racing, super sparse on the archeology. Much of the plot was backstory, so it felt like reading a second book in a series. The biggest plot element ended up being about a moral dilemma, which felt really out of place and put a huge damper on the entire adventure. The illustrations look like they will be great –but this was an advanced copy filled with sketches and mock-ups only.

EL –OPTIONAL.  Stephanie, Elementary School Librarian & Author

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