Down the Brain Drain

The DATA Set #8

by Ada Hopper, Graham Ross (Illustrator)

In the eighth DATA Set adventure, the kids get lost inside Dr. Bunsen!

When Dr. Bunsen gets sick with a bad cough, he insists that he has no time to sleep! He swallowed a top-secret experiment to prove his scientific findings, but now he needs the kids’ help to kick out the cold! And luckily, Bunsen has created a high-tech shuttle that can shrink down and travel inside the human body. Join the kids as they suit up and dive down the Bunsen brain drain!

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the DATA Set chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

126 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2020

About the author

Pen name for Meredith Rusu.

Meredith Rusu is a children’s book author and editor specializing in titles based on television and movies. She has written more than one hundred books from preschool to young adult for licenses such as The LEGO Movie, LEGO Ninjago, Peppa Pig, Disney Princess, American Girl, and Star Wars. She is also the author of The DATA Set chapter book series under the pen name Ada Hopper. Meredith lives in New Jersey with her husband and two young sons who provide much of the inspiration for her writing. When she isn’t working, Meredith enjoys karaoke, spending time with family, and going on the occasional adventure or two.

Reviews

[Margaret Boling · Rating 2 out of 5]

4/25/2021 ~ A new to me transitional chapter book series; I've read Volume #1, #7, and now 8. I noticed that at some point between 1 & 7, the illustrator changed. This book doesn't even have an author or illustrator listed on the cover (though names are credited on the title page), and the copyright is held by Simon & Schuster, not an author or illustrator. The DATA Set consists of 4 "science whiz kids" and stands for Data, Action, Trouble, and Adventure. In this volume, the kids accidentally use an experimental device of Dr. Bunsen's to shrink in size and enter his body to remove the virus causing a common cold.

The characters are flat, and it's difficult to tell them apart. The science is wrong. Also, he tells the kids to wear wet suits made of special germ-proof material so they're completely protected from his germs (p. 22), but there is no helmet or head covering. Then they go swimming in his stomach and mucous. No wonder they are sick at the end of the book! (Yes, I thoroughly enjoy sci-fi, but the physics need to be internally consistent; even our youngest readers deserve better). This volume actually does a better job with suspense during the action, but I'm not ordering the series for my elementary school library.

[Beth Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud to the younger kids. This one had so much potential, but ended up feeling like a bad magic school bus rip off. The kids go inside the human body to fight germs but their special suits don’t have helmets, they trap germs in a giant net, and aside from a few arteries and other organ comments, it was mostly poorly imagined and just silly. A shame that these books are so hit or miss.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eighth book in this series.
The four members of the D.A.T.A. team are asked to travel inside Dr. Bunsen to capture the cold germs and help him heal before presenting at a conference. Readers see them journey through the body and figure out how to capture the germs and remove them.
A lighter read for mid elementary level.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The DATA set help Dr Bunsen cure the common cold.

This is the last book in the series and to me felt really rushed.

Eliana’s review: “this is 3 stars. We’ve read better DATA set books. It was a little boring they just chased Herm. And the picture in the front never happened in the book.”

[Cheryl Harrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice conclusion to the DATA Set series.