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

Roland Smith (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 27, 2008 | Age Range: 10 and up | Lexile Measure: 660L (What's this?)

Thirteen-year-old Quest (Q) isn't sure he's ready for a new family. For a long time it's just been him and his mom, Blaze. But everything changes when Blaze falls in love with Roger and they start a new rock band called Match. Now they're married, have a hit record, and Match is going out on a year-long driving tour across the country. Q, along with new stepsister Angela, will take a year off from school and travel with the band. For now, home will be a luxury motor coach and homework will be a Web site diary of their travels. Perfect-Q can practice his magic tricks and Angela can read her spy novels. What can go wrong? As Q and Angela settle into their new life and new relationship as siblings, they start to notice that certain coincidences don't seem coincidental. For example, how does a band roadie named Boone find them in the middle of a desert where their coach just happens to break down? Why does a man from their parents' wedding keep showing up in the same cities they stop at? When they reach Philadelphia, Q and Angela realize this tour is definitely not the trip their parents had planned and that the "City of Brotherly Love" is full of mysteries and secrets that could threaten their new life together. In addition to his action adventure books, Roland is the author of many award-winning books for children including Journey of the Red Wolf; The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe; and Thunder Cave, which was a 1996 Notable Children's Trade Book in the field of Social Studies. His books with Sleeping Bear Press include W is for Waves: An Ocean Alphabet; Z is for Zookeeper: A Zoo Alphabet; and N is for our Nation's Capital: A Washington, DC Alphabet. Roland lives near Portland, Oregon.

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
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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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press; First Edition edition (August 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585363251
• ISBN-13: 978-1585363254
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,077 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.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

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

By M. Burla

Format: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!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

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

By T. Misbach

Format: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!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally...a book for reluctant readers!!! September 13, 2011

By Angela

Format:Hardcover

Mr. Smith... I love you! I have an 11 yr old that 'hates to read'. I was so frustrated that I spent a good 10 hours searching site after site for books that were appropriate for middle school boys. Ones that didn't have questionable behaviour or graphic .. anything... Then I came along the I.Q. series. I received great reviews from family websites so I thought I'd give it a try... My son started reading it, begrudgingly as always, and found himself an hour later being pulled from the sofa for dinner. He was amazed that an hour had passed by! "Mom, this is the coolest book!!!"... yes, I cried, but after I went to my room to 'tidy up'. I am hoping that the next one will come faster like another reviewer said.
If you have a reluctant reader that likes James Bond like action, or suspense, and other 'boy stuff', I would definitely give this one a try. I even liked reading the first one and am going to read the 2nd one this winter break. The chapters are not long, the writing is fast paced. The topics are current and the language is safe.