________________ CM . . . . Volume XVII Number 23. . . .February 18, 2011

cover

Night Raid. (Zac Power).

H. I. Larry. Illustrated by Andy Hook & Ash Oswald.
Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2010.
92 pp., pbk., $6.99.
ISBN 978-1-4431-0254-4.

Grades 6-8 / Ages 11-13.

Review by Jean Nickel.

** /4

   

excerpt:

CLASSIFIED MISSION RECEIVED 11:00 A.M.

Over the last 48 hours, hundreds of gold ingots have been stolen in night raids on the Brink Bank. Their vault is the highest security vault in the world. Inside the vault are three metal safes. Somehow thieves have emptied two of them. GIB intelligence suggests enemy spy agency BIG is involved and the gold will leave the city in 24 hours. There's no telling what BIG could do with all that gold.

YOUR MISSION

1. Discover how the gold is being stolen.
2. Catch the thieves.
3. Stop the gold from leaving the city.

MISSION EQUIPMENT

Your GIB cargo pants are packed with gadgets. Contact Agent Tech Head for further information.

END

 

Zac Power has been given his assignment. Stop the thieves from stealing the ingots from the bank vault. His mission must be successful since he came in second on his training refresher. The success of this mission will put him back in first place on the spy roster.

      The gold is stolen while Zac is watching it inside the vault. He then follows the leads that take him to a chocolate factory run by the BIG organization. Zac uses his brains, ingenuity, and the many gadgets supplied to him by GIB in his fight against the BIG organization. Will he be able to stop the gold from leaving the country in time?

      Night Raid is a fun read for students and reluctant readers who like the spy and adventure genre. It contains many gadgets, and the book has black and white illustrations and a digital timepiece counting down the time Zac has left to find the gold. Throughout the book as Zac goes underground to BIG's chocolate factory, he encounters warning signs for any intruder, warning signs such as DANGER! DO NOT ENTER! There are also diagrams for blueprints, iPod screens, etc. that help Zac on his mission. The print is an appropriate size for students who have difficulty reading small print.

      Students who like this book can be directed to others in the "Zac Power" series. The author is H.I. Larry, a pseudonym for many authors who write the Zac Power stories. Night Raid is illustrated by Andy Hook and Ash Oswald.

Recommended.

Jean Nickel is a library technician at the Westglen School in Didsbury, AB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364
Hosted by the University of Manitoba.
 

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