Quark's Academy

Description

Twelve-year-old science geniuses, Augustine, Celeste and Oscar, have all been accepted into an elite and mysterious science academy summer camp run by the elusive Inventor Quark. During the week, students attend classes and use their spare time to create their entry for the 'Best Invention Competition'. Instead of focusing on science, however, Augustine, Celeste and Oscar find themselves distracted by one another. Celeste wants revenge on Oscar for killing her pet mouse at a science fair a year earlier, Augustine is desperate to be friends with the reluctant Celeste, and Oscar is determined to win, whatever the cost, so he can prove his brother and his parents wrong. But things at the academy are not what they appear to be, and the three students quickly realise that they'll need to put their squabbles aside and their heads together if they're ever to get out of there alive ...

Catherine Pelosi is a Sydney-based children's book author. When she was younger, she loved two things in equal measure: animals and writing stories. For a long time she wanted to be a zoologist. Catherine has had several jobs working with animals, including in wildlife rescue, as a dinosaur tour guide and marketing for an animal shelter in London, but her love of writing never went away. These days, she writes as often as she can. Catherine hasn't lost her love of animals, however, and you will often find one or two roaming through her stories. Quark's Academy is Catherine's first book.

Three young inventors are delighted to begin a week-long program at an outlandish hi-tech science academy. No parents are allowed, since they could distract the scientists from their important work. The week starts with competition and suspicion as each character works on their own private inventions. But there are also sinister activities happening at the academy. A tentative friendship forms between our heroes as they figure out what's going on and find a way to escape. Quark's Academy is a rollicking read. The science is loopy and exaggerated, which makes the story entertaining and unpredictable. The plot hinges on the rich imagination of children - a sustainable resource if ever there was one. Whether or not they're interested in science, readers between eight and 12 will have fun with this book.--Adelaide Advertiser