M. M. Vaughan

Parker and Emma race against time and an evil world organisation to rescue their scientist father.
Set in an unspecified time in the future, this is a science fiction thriller for the junior reader (9 ). The family has moved to the US from the UK because of dad Geoffrey Banks work as a top secret scientist. Mum died in an accident three years earlier and this obviously still impact greatly on the family. Dad is apparently a workaholic, but the reader learns before Parker and Emma that there is something of huge import to both themselves and the entire world going on.
There is a nice build up of tension through the first half of the story which has a fair amount of background information to put across. Characters are developed and grow and there is a good mix of recognisable reality and science fiction. It's half way through by the time Dad disappears, but the plot does not drag at all, pulling the reader along and revealing enough to keep interest and make you want to find out more.
The ending satisfies and leaves an opening for more.
Recommend for 9 .… (altro)

I picked this up because it was on a list of fiction books with deaf characters, but it's also a middle-grade sci-fi which is right up my alley. So like most middle-grade sci-fi action stories, the adults are either not around or something happens to them, forcing the children to take action and be heroic! I wasn't necessarily struck by how realistic it was, but I liked the story well enough. I liked Michael, presumably black but possibly brown (only his dark skin was commented on) and a computer genius. Parker was an alright protagonist, nothing special.
My only real quibble was that the difference between American Sign Language and British Sign Language was shrugged off as comparable to the difference between American and British accents. Unless Emma had been studying ASL while in England, she wouldn't be able to land in America and be able to sign with the kids in her school immediately. They're really different languages.
Otherwise, anything else I didn't love was just aesthetic.… (altro)

I am going to keep my eye on this author. I really enjoyed her first book, The Ability , and now I really liked this one. I was just talking to someone the other day about how the science fiction genre so often contains no science. That is not the case in this one. Science abounds, and it is very interesting science. There was a lot of action and suspense surrounding the science, and the children in the story have to go to great lengths to uncover secrets about the firm their father worked for.

I liked the characters of Parker, Emma and their dad. I found it refreshing to have a deaf character who was never treated like a person with a disability. Emma is tough, loyal, compassionate and fiercely devoted to animals and the environment. Parker is believable as a boy who is just trying to survive a new school and bullying. Dr. Banks is a loving father with a tremendous amount of stress and pressure on him that the children don't understand. They have no idea that everything he is doing is to keep them safe, so it is sad when they resent him and all the time he takes away from them on his work. Another character, the new friend Michael, has kind of an Artemis Fowl feel to him. Not in a bad way (I can't stand Artemis Fowl), but because he had unlimited resources, absent parents, and servants who would do whatever he said. Add all of those characters to an interesting plot, and we have ourselves a winner. Middle school students should love this one!

Areas of concern:
*Grief over a lost mother/wife.
*A kidnapped father leaving 2 children on their own.

http://read-me-maybe.blogspot.com… (altro)

I thoroughly enjoyed this action/adventure novel written for middle-grade students. It was fast-paced and exciting. The protagonists, Parker and his deaf sister Emma along with their friend Michael are extremely resourceful and creative.

Parker, Emma and their dad share technology that allows them to communicate between themselves through their thoughts. Emma is also proficient at lip reading and signing.

Parker and Emma’s dad is almost never around as he is working night and day on a project at his new job. They’ve been uprooted from their home in London and are being bullied at school except for the one boy, Michael who has befriended them.

Just on the cusp of completing his project, Parker’s dad is kidnapped. Fortunately due to the message he sent Parker via his thoughts before he was taken Parker has a clue as to how to rescue his dad. But what is this mysterious project? What is so important about it? This project affects more than just Parker’s family. It’s a sinister project called SIX.

I liked the bits of humour that were injected into the book to lighten the tension. It made me laugh out loud and would be something that would definitely strike the funny bone of a youngster in the 8 – 12 year old range.

There are lots of twists and turns in this plot, enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. The author has developed the characters of Parker and Emma well enough that you will care about what happens to them.

I don’t believe this is the last book you’ll see about Project SIX. I’ll be watching for another one. I gave this one 5 stars out of 5. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

To see my complete review, visit Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2015/05/book-review-six-by-mm-vaugh...… (altro)