Stealing Air

December 3, 2012
Reedy (Words in the Dust) delivers a light story about friendship that wavers between fantasy and small-town realism. Brian has reluctantly left Seattle because his parents have teamed up with an Iowa professor to manufacture an ultra-light polymer dubbed "Plastisteel" under their company name, Synthtech. Showing off on his skateboard, Brian draws unwelcome attention from a bully and is rescued by the son (nicknamed Mad Max) of his parents' business partners. After the theft of Plastisteel samples lands Synthtech on shaky financial ground, Mad Max includes Brian in a top-secret venture of his own: the construction of an experimental flier (with exactly zero safety features) that they believe will convince an investor to sink millions into Synthtech. While Brian and Mad Max's attempts at flight should thrill readers who fantasize about amateur aviation, Reedy strikes some false notes: the boys' preferred diversions of The Beatles and Star Trek are outdated, and a romantic subplot is extraneous. The farfetched premise that a risky flight by two sixth-graders can rescue a high-tech startup doesn't quite earn the necessary suspension of disbelief to achieve liftoff. Ages 8â12. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

September 1, 2012
Skateboarders, boy or girl, will know the terms getting air, half-pipe and ollie, but, can three boys "steal" enough air to fly a homemade airplane? Brian, a skateboarder newly moved to Iowa, Max, a Trekkie and inventor, and Alex, an oddsmaker and entrepreneur, band together to secretly build an airplane. Getting it to fly depends on Plastisteel, a steel-infused polymer, which Brian's parents and Max's mother are trying to manufacture. The setup is obvious from the start: The boys will use their plane to demonstrate to a potential investor that Plastisteel will work and save the company. Even with Brian's flying experience with his dad and Max's brains, the first two attempts fail (of course), but their persistence pays off, and the third succeeds. Plot threads of bullying, a bit of romance, peer pressure, a pigout eating contest and good-old-fashioned ingenuity keep the story moving. Implausibility is sky-high, but the boys' determination will keep readers going. Tankfuls of aeronautical know-how may deter some readers; numerous references to Beatles music are balanced by the thoroughly modern devices they play on. Part Hardy Boys, part Gary Paulsen, part Skateboard Magazine for Kids, this can appeal to mechanical-minded, skateboarding enthusiasts. (Fiction. 9-13)

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December 1, 2012

Gr 4-6-Reedy's novel has secrets, homemade rocket ships, romance, bullying, skateboarding, and friendship-plenty to capture the interest of readers. Sixth-grader Brian has moved to a new town in Iowa. He decides that the local skating park might be the best place to meet some kids before school starts. That's where his troubles begin. First, he out-skates the town bully, and then his heart ends up in his throat when the lone girl skater removes her helmet, leading Brian to think "This girl was an angel." Despite his rocky start, Brian finds friends and begins constructing an airplane in a secret lab with them. But will they ever get it in the air? Reedy's tween characters are mostly authentic, but he goes a bit overboard with Star Trek-loving nerd Max, whose stilted language is hard to believe. Otherwise, he nails the angst of the middle-school lunchroom, the tentativeness of a first boy-girl relationship, and the mood of a family who has pulled up their roots for a new opportunity that's not going as well as hoped. This is a solid story that will ring true to readers for many years to come.-Margo Hastings, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, CT

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2012
Grades 4-6 This novel includes all the ingredients of a classic middle-school plotline: the pretty and seemingly unattainable girl, the cool guy, the no-good bully, the new kid, and the hopeless but relatable nerd. But Reedy offers up much more than a formulaic preteen drama. Brian, an avid skateboarder, finds himself coping with a difficult move to Iowa at the start of his sixth-grade year. He befriends nerdy Alex and discovers that his new acquaintance has hatched a plot to build a functional homemade airplane in a supersecret laboratory. This seemingly impossible venture brings together an unlikely group of boys, each with their own fears, needs, and tribulations. The dialogue is believable, the plot fast-paced, and the moral subtle: sometimes all it takes to make friends is a common goal. The story is full of heart and will resonate with many middle-schoolers and tweens who feel the pressure of social isolation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)