I,Q (I,Q The Series) [Paperback]

Roland Smith (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Fame has arrived for rockers Blaze and Roger! Just married, leaving Los Angeles, and touring the United States with teenagers Q (Quest) and Angela in tow, the excitement heightens in Philadelphia when Angela realizes shes being followed. Q soon learns the secret about Angelas real mothera former Secret Service agent.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—When Quest (Q for short) Munoz's songwriting mom marries rock star Roger Tucker, he and new stepsister Angela join the sensational duo on the road for a national concert tour. Life on the bus goes from boring to bedlam as an old roadie named Boone and his dog, Croc, come aboard, and Dirk Peski, an appropriately named paparazzo, stalks their every move. Boone's preoccupation with the teens' safety and whereabouts and Angela's suspicions about being followed lead her to tell Q about her dead mother's connection to the Secret Service. Alternating chapters of italicized dialogue between a mystery man named Eban Lavi and an international cast of shady characters alert readers that this parallel action will somehow impact Q and Angela when they reach Philadelphia, the city where Angela's mother was killed in the line of duty. Speculation that she may have survived and become a terrorist fuels Angela's determination to find the truth. The pair uses natural tech savvy and Q's magician tricks to elude their followers and comb the city for clues. Preoccupied adults and bumbling spies provide a convenient plot contrivance for the sleuthing teens, but sheer numbers of extraneous characters muddle the story. The best-developed character, Boone, steals the show as the paternal, James Bond-loving intelligence officer whose crime-solving dog is a sidekick. Action lovers will find just enough substance to keep them coming back for future episodes.—Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Adventure, suspense, humor, fascinating characters, and plot twists galore will draw middle-graders to this series starter. Thirteen-year-old Q (short for Quest) has just gained a stepfather and stepsister—his mother, singer-songwriter Blaze Munoz, has married singer-songwriter Roger Tucker, and their new band, Match, is set to start a yearlong tour. Roger’s 15-year-old daughter, Angela is, like Q, less than thrilled at the speed of their parents’ romance, and both teens have mixed feelings about the prospect of spending a year together on a tour bus. But there’s no time for grousing: the teens discover they are being followed, and given Angela’s mother’s past history as a Secret Service agent, that’s not a good thing. The appearance of Boone, an old roadie friend of their parents, only keeps the mysteries building. Q’s skills as a magician save the teens more than once, while Angela’s knowledge of martial arts and spy games will fascinate readers. Think Ian Fleming for the younger set, and offer to those who love Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. Grades 5-8. --Debbie Carton

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press (August 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585363251
• ISBN-13: 978-1585363254
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,475 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roland Smith is a former zookeeper and leading expert on red wolves as well as an author. He lives on a small farm near Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suspense for Kids, August 14, 2010

By 

T. Misbach (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I,Q (I,Q The Series) (Paperback)

I'm surprised at how much I liked this one. It was unique and fun. I read this one in one sitting. It was adventurous and I loved the characters. Take IQ himself. His hobbies include magic tricks, complicated knots and becoming the next Hideeni. Surprisingly enough, he's pretty dang good at all of it. Take his step-sister. She's following in her mothers footsteps to become a spy. She's constantly seen in sunglasses. When these two kids are forced into a dangerous and exciting situation involving terrorists they fare very well. It was believable and highly entertaining. I recommend this one to all!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alex Rider, look out!, February 7, 2009

By 

M. Burla - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I,Q (I,Q The Series) (Paperback)

Young teens, male and female, will enjoy the first book in this new series by Roland Smith. Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series has created fans for the young spy genre, Charlie Higson has a slightly more believable young James Bond thing going, but Smith has created a pair of protagonists that will please both boys and girls. He's also set a scene that is more accurately tied to current events and is more realistic than the antics of Alex Rider. As an adult, I appreciated the humor of the SOS group of aging, yet quite competent spooks who pair up with the teen-aged protagonists in what turns out to be a test of their loyalty and ability before, I assume, embarking on a quest to save the world from "ghost" terrorist cells in volume two of the series, due out in April. I'll be buying the second book just as soon as it comes out; you'll want it, too, when you've finished reading the first. Well done, Mr. Smith!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Angel and The Leopard, February 15, 2009

By 

Miss Dalton's Class "Miss Dalton's Class" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I,Q (I,Q The Series) (Paperback)

Roland Smith's "I,Q" starts out with Roger and Blaze Tucker marrying and going on tour as "Match", a chart-topping band. Accompanying them on tour will be their two children Angela and Quest, Q for short.
In the beginning stages of the tour we learn Angela's mother died serving her country as a secret service agent. Angela looked up to her mother and was one day hoping to follow in her mother's footsteps.
While Roger and Blaze perform all over the country, Angela and Q are busy uncovering a secret that arose when the traveling man named Boone and his dog Croc found the "Match" tour bus in the desert in Nevada. Boone appears to be homeless and worries Q very much when he finds Boone working under the bus in the early morning. Blaze wakes up when she hears someone working on the tour bus and recognizes Boone immediately explaining that Boone is an ancient famous roadie.
Boone tells Angela and Q that Angela's mother had a twin sister named Anmar. He also tells Q and Angela that Anmar is a very well-known terrorist. The children are also surprised to hear that Angela's mother may not have died in the bomb as they had all assumed. In fact, Malak may still be alive.
Angela and Q accompany Boone and Croc and their crew on many adventures attempting to find if Angela's mother could possibly still be alive and in hiding, trying to find the leopard, otherwise known as Anmar.
Angela and Q run into Israeli Mossad Agents as they are looking for her mother. These terrorists are hunting Roger, Angela, and Malak. On the hunt Angela has to attack the terrorist, Eben, and Q has to work with her to trick them and escape.
When Angela and Q receive a strange and mysterious message on their Blackberries, Angela is convinced the message is from, her mother and is determined to meet her mother at the place mentioned in the message. Q is suspicious but decides to join Angela on her voyage to find her mother. When Q and Angela arrive in Apartment #13 they find that Malak is not in there, but Dirk Peski is. Dirk Peski is with the paparazzi, and working for Malak. He leads Angela and Q 10 doors down the hall to room #3 were Malak is waiting for them.
When Angela and Q arrive at room #3 they find Malak and Boone. Malak explains sher must remain in hiding and Roger and Blaze must never know she was still alive because they are achieving great things and are meant for each other.
This book is very adventurous, yet at times very confusing. The sequel "I,Q, The White House" should answer those unanswered questions. I would recommend this book if you are interested in mystery, action, and thrillers.