Audience: I wouldn't go any younger than sixth grade. There is a lot of violence and just a smidgen of bad language (it is British after all), as well as the rare sexual reference (for example, one boy says to another that he wonders if the headmaster and his assistant are "sleeping together"). Though intended for a middle school audience, I think anyone twelve and up could enjoy this series. I certainly do.
Audio book recommendation: YES!!! These books have gotten me through so many road trips and so much yard work. The narrator, Simon Prebble, does all the accents and just gives the whole performance really well. You know it's a good audio-book when the long drive is too short.
Plot: Alex Rider is an English schoolboy living with his banker uncle and his young hip housekeeper, Jack Starbright (is that not the greatest name?). When Alex's uncle is killed, Alex decides to investigate and discovers that his uncle was not a mere banker, but a spy! MI6 recruits Alex to finish his uncle's current mission, and Alex become MI6's secret weapon.
What makes them great?
These books have everything you could want from a spy series--suspense, secret doors, extreme stunts--as well as that dry British humor I just can't get enough of. Let's be real though. It's all about the special spy gadgets, and Alex gets all sorts of sweet gadgets!
The novels all follow a certain pattern and I work through the series with other books in between so I don't get sick of reading the same story arc. However, this kind of series (Artemis Fowl, etc.) is the best way to hook a kid on reading for life. Kids love repetition, so if your son or daughter is a reluctant reader, this might be the perfect series to catch their attention and keep it through ALL NINE BOOKS!
(And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I discovered that Horowitz is also the creator of my all time favorite TV series, "Foyle's War". No wonder the books are so great!)
Here is a list of the books in order:
#1 Stormbreaker
#2 Point Blank (my favorite!)
#3 Skeleton Key
#4 Eagle Strike
#5 Scorpia
#6 Ark Angel
#7 Snakehead
#8 Crocodile Tears
#9 Scorpia Rising
#10 Russian Roulette
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