Customer Reviews

Green Thumb

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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I'm a big fan of Rob Thomas and this book did not disappoint. I'm also really glad it's directed at the younger reader since junior high kids have probably missed his other titles. (Rats Saw God, Slave Day, Satellite Down) The main character, Grady, is instantly likable while we witness him outwitting his football-star bullies by covertly pelting them with spitballs covered in hair remover. These bullies have beat him up for the last time, however, when he travels to the Amazon rain forest as part of a tree-growing research team. He loses his extra weight & puts on muscle. Not to mention saving the jungle from a mad scientist. It's a fun story that teens will love, with a main character that some may identify with. Keep 'em coming, Rob!!

This book is amazing! Imagine you could control the trees around you to help you with your laptop. Well this is the story of how this happens to a gifted junior-high students working for an (un-beknownst) evil scientist in th jungle. I really recommend this book to all young readers, especially people who like science-fiction.

2-time national science fair winner, 13 year-old Grady Jacobs is kind of a nerd in school because he is "smart," but doesn't seem to care too much about it. He is going to spend the summer with a famous botanist, Dr. Phillip Carter, in the Amazon rain forest. They have to try to save the rain forest with some new type of "super tree," before it dies out. His job is mostly to cook, but he discovers something amazing, a system of sounds that lets him to control the trees, kind of like a language. He then discovers that Carters "super trees" aren't helping the Amazon, they're hurting it. Hurting it to the point where they're killing it. When some one finds out about what Grady is doing, and the experiments he is taking, he runs away from Carter's camp, and camps with the Urah-wau Indian tribe. Can he stop Carter from using his "super trees" in the rainforest?

Grady is a very smart kid and because of it he is asked to spend a couple of weeks with a famous botanist. They are planing to save the forest with special trees. Grady discovers away to speak with the trees with different sounds. He finds out that the trees aren't helping the environment, they're killing it. When people figure out what grady is doing, he runs away. He camps with some indians. Grady teams up with the indians to try to save the rainforest. Can they do it, or will they fail?

This book is a new twist from Rob Thomas, who dabbles in the sci-fi aspect. The story is straight forward...and continues the running themes of "fitting in" and not being singled out for teenagers. Grady uses his mind and is a very pro-active character willing to do what is needed to be done, and Grady's subtle humor will appeal to most of Thomas's fans. Grady is a wonderful character and I was very glad to get to know him...despite the "childish" cover it is worth your time and effort, especially for the visual descriptions of the rainforest.