FROM TEXAS WITH LOVE by Dan Gutman

Coke and Pepsi watched the family RV explode with Evil Elvis inside at the end of book three, You Only Die Twice. They still need to get home to California. The family buys new supplies, Dad gets them a car, and they pick up their trip across the south from Tennessee to New Mexico.  With Evil Elvis dead, could it be that Coke and Pepsi are finally free?

Of course not! There's no story without people trying to kill the twins! This picks up the same pace as previous stories, full of danger and wacky-yet-real places around the country. Cliff-hanger ending sets up the fifth and final book, License to Thrill which will probably release in 2015. You can read a chapter of it here.

4 out of 5 stars
This does not have an AR reading level yet.

CHAPTER BOOK: You Only Die Twice by Dan Gutman

Book three in the Genius Files series! You can read about book one here and book two here (both have an AR reading level of 4.8).

In the third adventure, Coke and Pep are still trying to recover from the surprise ending of book 2. They made it to Washington DC for their aunt's wedding and now they are going to travel back across the country to their home in California in an RV with their parents, stopping at every random roadside attraction and museum their mom can find along the way. Early on, it looks like maybe they aren't in danger any more. Maybe no one will try to kill them on the way back home! But Coke and Pepsi aren't that lucky. There's a new villain tracking them this time along with some old "friends," new ciphers, and plenty of family "fun" cooped up in an RV together.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Great adventure, great humor, another nice cliffhanger at the end. The author is in talks to make the series into a movie and if they stay close to the story, it will be a winner for family entertainment! Until then, steer your adventure-loving readers to this series. They won't be disappointed!

4.5 out of 5 stars
No AR level yet.

Recommended for: readers in third grade and up, fans of fast-paced stories, spy stories, adventure stories, funny stories, and fans of Dan Gutman's other books.

TUESDAY: Never Say Genius by Dan Gutman

Summary
Coke and Pepsi, and their parents, are still working their way across the country on their way to a family wedding in Washington DC. The McDonald's are still stopping at all sorts of unusual landmarks on their way from Wisconsin to DC. And someone is still trying to kill Coke and Pepsi.


Review
Another fast-moving adventure story for fans of the first book in the series (Mission Unstoppable). Plenty of geographical information as the family moves from state to state. Great cliffhanger at the end will have readers begging for the next story (which doesn't come out until January 2013).


4 out of 5 stars
No AR level established yet


Recommended for: fans of the first series. If you are a school librarian who routinely hears, "I want a book with action," steer your readers here.


Cautions: none.

Waiting on WEDNESDAY: Never Say Genius

Book #2 of Dan Gutman's Genius Files series, Never Say Genius, released yesterday. This is the book I am going to read next. You can go here to see the cover art and read some of the beginning. My students and I really enjoyed the first adventure, and from everything I have seen online, this one will be fantastic (they start in Wisconsin and eat cheese curds!).