Customer Reviews

Extreme Makeover

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once in awhile you read something that is really fun. If you pick up a Henry Melton book that's what you'll find. Extreme Makeover is his third in a series he's called Small Towns, Big Ideas. The first (which I haven't yet had the opportunity to read), Emperor Dad won the Darrell Award (from the Science Fiction community) for Best Novel. The second, Roswell or Bust, was my introduction to Melton's writing and I found it to be highly engaging. The newest release is certainly good company for its predecessors.

Deena Brooke, overweight and self-conscious, living a sad existence because of an overprotective mother, brushes with death on a stormy school trip. The result of that brush is the invasion of alien nanobots in her body. The tiny robots repair her damaged tissues and help her to become more than she ever was. Her adventure includes developing new attitudes and physical strength, falling in love with the mysterious smart boy who pretends to be average, and saving the world from ultimate disaster.

Luther--who actually turns out to be 20-year-old Luke--is on the run from Las Vegas bad guys who have already killed his parents and are after some secrets that he doesn't even know he holds. As the two young people discover the new talents acquired by Deena, they figure out the presence of the nanobots and how they are being used by aliens to destroy the Earth.

As always this is a superb example of young adult science fiction. The story reads quickly and keeps the reader wanting to turn page after page. The mixing of several plots is not only not distracting, but it makes the story more intriguing. Hats off to you again, Henry. Keep churning out those stories. Readers will want to get their hands on all the stories in this series as they are released almost too fast to believe.

Extreme Makeover is again rating four and three-fourths (out of five) reading glasses. Good reading, good entertainment, just plain good fun.

I picked this book up out of curiosity at a science fiction convention, and started reading it at the seller's table. When I came back up for air at the start of Chapter 3, I bought it! It's a fun, action-packed romp with some serious themes underneath.

Deena is an intelligent young woman, handicapped by an overprotective helicopter mom and her own insecurities. When she accidentally becomes a host body for a nanite swarm, the only person she can trust is her quiet but equally-smart classmate Luther. But Luther has secrets of his own, and Deena has to make some serious ethical decisions as well as developing her own self-reliance. One thing I especially liked is that she doesn't sit around waiting to be rescued; once she has learned something about the capabilities the nanites give her, she figures out how to use those abilities as a weapon against the bad guys.

I would recommend this book for both boys and girls in the 12-15 age range, and for readers of any age who like well-written science fiction.

Extreme Makeover is a science fiction book seasoned with a hint of mysterious fantasy. It can keep you reading, chapter after chapter. You'll be intruiged to find out how the plot will end!
The characters are down-to-earth, likeable, and fun. They most definitely go through some pretty unpredictable changes! If you're an avid reader and interested in buying something new and unconventional, this is the book for you. Sure it may not have some big, important, publishing name posted on it's front somewhere, but that doesn't mean it's not fit to have in your shelf at home.
It's Henry Melton's best book yet, in my opinion. I'm recommending it to you. Now don't waste anymore time- buy it now! While you're here (you know you want to)!