Outback All-Stars

Race the Wild #5

by Kristin Earhart, Erwin Madrid (Illustrator)

Does Team Red have what it takes to beat the best of the best?

G'day mate! It's an all-star race through the Australian Outback. But each team is a champion. So Sage knows the red team is going to have to be smarter and tougher than the competition if they want to win. If not, they'll be going down on their trip down under!

Each chapter in this action-packed adventure series is bursting with totally true facts about wild and wonderful creatures, dangerous habitats, maps, and more!

Genres: Adventure, Chapter Books, Childrens, Summer, Travel, Animals

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2016

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series improves after the first book, IMO. The characters are a bit better defined and the series continues to pair animal and habitat information with the exciting action-adventure of the race. I still don’t feel that any of the characters really came alive for me, or were particularly endearing, nor do I feel the plots are overall that memorable. However, it’s a decent blend of education and fun and my children enjoyed the series. Are some of the depictions of diversity a bit stereotypical? Maybe. Mari is (I think) Asian-American and is the "brainiac" -- Russell is African-American and the "athlete" and Dev is of Indian descent and is tech-savvy. They do all contribute to the group in other ways and don't feel completely one-dimensional, at least. Each of the first four books is told from a different teammate's perspective. Not outstanding, but some reluctant readers might enjoy the action and learn something along the way.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as I loved this whole series, it was almost like this one lost it's pacing. Just when I thought things were finally going to start happening, it was over.

It has a really break neck pace, and at one point they came close to being eliminated, but they pulled it out.

They added a new team member in this story which greatly changed the dynamics of the team. I guess that was the focus of the story. They needed to find a way to gel again.

I love these stories because I learn so much. I never knew wallaroos existed or tree kangaroos. They are both so cool.

[Joyce T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book! I learned a lot about Australia, and the characters are mature enough that they're not boring to read about, even if the book was below my preferred reading level.

Content: CLEAN. Appropriate for kids. No curse words or explicit scenes.

[Srushti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of boring but nice 👍

[Darsh Bhuva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is really good with really good descriptions of animals and how they look!

[Shiv Goyal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how the book has a wide interest range.

I also like the plot ,they race in the wild!!
and , they have a new team member, Eliza.
and she helps a lot

[Maximilian Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because I like koalas. I also liked this book because I like platypuses.

[Kerrikoala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Australiaphile over here! So yes, I read this book, even though I haven't read the previous ones. I liked all of the animal facts, but I was puzzled by a couple of lines on page 43: "Sage recognized them as eucalyptus. She knew it was the favorite food of most koalas." Most koalas? Then what is the favorite food of the others? Anyhoo, this was an okay read, but it only felt like half a book, an since the next book isn't set in Koalaland, I don't really want to read it.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been pretty obsessed with the idea of this series... I LOVE the wildlife & science, the Amazing Race style of competing... it's a blast. But Australia is one of my favorite places in the whole world and this fell a little flat for me. Will I still pre-order #6 in the series? Yes. But do I hope it keeps me on the edge of my seat like books #1, #2, and #4 did? Absolutely!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute continuation, but I felt like the story was less solid than the first half of the series...almost like the author is trying to figure out how to get as many weird facts in as she can as opposed to telling the best story she can and adding facts to make it even better.