June 2010

Author/s: J.A. Henderson
Publisher: Oxford University Press UK
Reviewed by: Jonathan Jones Age 13
ISBN 13: 9780192754868

Seven highly intelligent children are kept at a military base, Pinegrove, which specialises in genetic engineering and virtual simulations.

One of the children, May Rose, gets bitten by a genetically engineered mouse; becomes rogue and is put into quarantine. The other children manage to disabled all the locks in the base when trying to break out for the night, as it is Christmas Eve. May Rose seizes the moment and escapes from the heavily guarded room. With her new-found intellect she overrules the minds of the soldiers in the base and sets up a mutiny. She then develops a time machine which she plans to use to send herself into the future to take over the world.

The other children have to make sure she does not succeed. The book was fast moving and hard to put down. The plot is complicated, making it hard to explain.

The book deals with many scientific principles, but the author explains them well through a number of quotes. You don’t need to know much about science to understand the book. One of the children, Dave, speaks with a weird English accent and it is sometimes difficult to figure out what he is trying to say (author has written.)

Both girls and boys would enjoy the book, because it has a mixture of romance and action. This book is suitable for children aged 12 – 15, as some of the words and explanations are quite difficult.

Link to online catalogue
Bunker 10