Customer Reviews

Poison Island (Zac Power #1)

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

 

 

My 6 year old son loved this book and couldn't wait to read it. For the most part, I thought it was good, well written and the pace of the story was perfect for him. But I had one concern.

Why oh why did the author make Zac have to taste three potions to see if it was the one they were looking for? My son and I had a talk about that scene and how its very dangerous to drink anything unless you are SURE it's safe and you know what it is. I would have rathered the author had said something about Zac's training that made the choice to drink these unknown substances a viable option for him, but not for the uneducated. Even a line such as "Zac was sure glad he'd passed his poisons class and knew how to identify dangerous substances over safe ones before he dared to drink the potions." would have gone a long way to send the right message to children.

I thought this was a one off problem, but then in the second book, the author has Zac accidentally land on an island with a nudist colony. We laughed about it (mine was forced) and I was lucky the question about what a nudist colony was and why people would be there didn't come up. I did not want to have that conversation before bedtime, muchless at such an early age.

Because my son enjoyed the books I would like to buy more for him, but I am worried about what the author might have waiting in the next book that will take a good discussion on my part. I have given this book 4 stars because it was me who had the problem with one part of the story, while my son loved it.

This is a great series for kids! My son discovered these books when we were in Australia and they have just recently become available in the US. They are similiar to the Secret Agent Jack Stalwart series but I like Zac Power MUCH better. I highly recommend these! There are some more books in the series that I dont see available on Amazon yet but I'm sure they will if these books catch on. They are great and my son couldnt get enough of them. He still loves to read them after 2 years!

Our son had a spy-themed 8th birthday party so I ordered this series of four books for a gift. He liked them so much he actually read through the whole set in one weekend and he couldn't stop talking about how cool the adventures were.

My 7 year old got this series for Christmas. He couldn't wait to read at bedtime! He loved all the books!! He enjoyed reading them to himself as much as listening while I read. He was excited to read to me!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this series and am searching for the others listed. We are always looking for series chapter books geared to boys and this is perfect.

Action, adventure, cool gadgets and exciting death-defying missions - what more can a kid want? Zac Power has been my 2nd grade daughter's favorite series this year. It's the perfect hook for any reluctant reader in search of a new series.

Zac Power's family works for the G.I.B.: the Government Investigation Bureau. Zac and his family all work to help solve international crimes in death-defying missions. In this episode, the first of four published in the U.S., Zac must track down Dr. Drastic, an evil mad scientist, before he sells Solution X to the world's government. What is Solution X? Boil the poison from poison dart frogs, add a few secret ingredients, and you have a super secret cure for every type of disease that ever existed. Now Dr. Drastic is going to blackmail the world's governments, charging them one million dollars each for the recipe!

The writing is clear, action-packed stuff:

"Zac took a flying leap out of the airlock and into the black night.

A split second later, Zac was falling at 200 miles an hour. Wind rushed past him. It roared in his ears. It sucked his cheeks back hard against his skull.

Zac tugged his rip cord and his parachute opened.

Whoosh!"

This book will appeal to 2nd and 3rd graders who love action and adventure, but want a shorter book. I think it would be fantastic for reluctant readers. Sometimes the vocabulary is a bit advanced with Zac's crazy gadgets (book two is all about an amphibious submersible vehicle). But the story and adventure will carry them through. It would also be a fun read-aloud for kindergartners and 1st graders.