ARC Review: Trackers by Patrick Carmen

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press (May 11, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0545165008
ISBN-13: 978-0545165006

Trackers by Patrick Carmen

Fifteen-year-old wunderkind Adam Henderson grew up tinkering with the discarded components at his father's computer-repair shop and was soon given his own little annex called The Vault, a place where he could hang out and work on his gadgets. By sixth grade right around the time he met Finn, Emily, and Lewis Adam was making enough money selling virtual stuff to hard-core gamers to allow him to begin developing an impressive portfolio of wireless surveillance gear. The kids discovered that they had complementary skill sets perfect for cyber-sleuthing, and the Trackers were born. In this first book of what will likely be a popular series, Adam and the Trackers have been drawn into a cryptic cat-and-mouse game by a brilliant and beautiful young woman named Zara who turns out to be working with an older accomplice named Lasko. He has managed to hack into The Vault and steal Adam's portfolio of inventions and threatens to release his designs to the public unless Adam can quickly crack a code that'll provide Lasko with backdoor access to all of the world's banks.

So, what did I think of it?

This is another book that, first going into it, I really did not think much of it.

Once again, I was completely and utterly wrong.

I've never read a book that was written quite like this one. It was pretty much in first-person view, but different. This book actually felt like some kid named Adam was actually telling you a story. This book only took me a few hours to read since it was so short but during those few hours, I was completely hooked. I'm not exactly sure what made it that way, all I know was that it was a good, short read.


This book was cleverly put together, and I tip my hat to you, (yes, I'm wearing a hat) Patrick Carmen. Books like this are not usually my style as I usually like fantasy/science fiction books and this book was about computers and hacking. Very unique in it's own way. I recommend this book if you like spy books or if you like guys with computer hacking skills. I, personally, prefer nun-chuck skills, but that's just me.

- Austin

"Hey all you people who read for fun, U R COOL"

*Note to Parents: This is an extremaly clean read!