THIS was the highlight of my son's summer reading! Multiple times he pushed it at me, saying, "This is pretty good. You should read it next."
I have to admit, the cover reminded me of...well, Power Rangers. So I was reluctant to read, but once I did pick it up (after no small amount of pestering by my son), it was FANTASTIC! I laughed and the characters, despite their ages, were believable and got into and out of their scrapes in a totally believable way.
Mace Blazer (yeah!) scores the highest on the TURBO racer arcade game, like he always does, then races home on his bike to avoid getting caught ditching school to defend his ranking. He wishes more than anything he could train to be a real TURBOnaut, but his parents are deaf, and his father's wages barely cover the bills.
Then a retired, mysterious pilot who no one's ever seen the face of, picks Mace (based on that high score) to train to race in the real-life TURBO Trimorpher Gauntlet Prix. Mace's parents are told he's won a prize for his arcade game simulation excellence and the chance to become a real TURBOnaut, and let him go off to train.
Mace must forge alliances and yet prove he's the best TURBOnaut against three other kids: Aya, Dex and Henryk. But their mentor keeps asking them to cut more and more corners, pitting them against each other in a most dangerous game.
This was a lot of fun to read, and I loved that Mace did the right thing at the end, even it meant ...ah, well, I won't spoil it. Enjoy the read!
