Six

Gr 4–6—British siblings Parker and Emma Banks have a lot on their plates: Emma is deaf, Parker is being bullied at their new American school, and their mother is dead. Their father, renowned scientist Dr. Geoffrey Banks, is often unavailable due to the hours he's putting in at his new job at Avecto. The three stay in contact with a telepathy device developed by Dr. Banks to help Emma communicate, but it doesn't help them talk about the things that really matter. Then Dr. Banks disappears, and Parker and Emma are the only ones who can rescue him—if they can figure out what he did at Avecto. Through many twists and turns, they discover that their father was developing teleportation technology to transport people to a new utopian planet called SIX, and that he has been unwillingly teleported there. Most issues are resolved, but some remaining loose threads make another installation possible. At close to 400 pages, there's a lot crammed into this book. The periodic action scenes keep the pages turning, but other plot elements seem unnecessary. Parker's bullying and the introduction of an albino pig only serve to bog down the story. Certain plot points smack of deus ex machina. For example, Parker has a wealthy sidekick whose money handily circumvents a variety of obstacles.