There’s a new sleuth in town — he’s fun, funny, and very 2424! It’s 2424. Super Sleuth Max Booth is uncovering the secrets of 20th century gadgets with his faithful but slightly neurotic robodog, Oscar. There are sinister characters and challenges along the way. Join the adventure in this fabulous series full of mystery, surprises and suspense. Ideal for reluctant readers. IF YOU HAVE A MAP, YOU MUST KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING… RIGHT? TODAY, MAX ISN’T SO SURE! When Max and his brainy beagle-bot, Oscar, find a 400-year-old navigation unit, they’re shocked to discover that it still seems to work. They trace its owner’s last journey and find themselves on the road to very big trouble! Far from home, Max and Oscar cross paths with a bunch of bungling burglars, trying to zip away with a precious piece of old-tech art. Max and Oscar will need to map out a rapid plan to catch the thieves and navigate their way out of danger!
Max Booth is back for a new adventure in the latest instalment in the Max Booth Future Sleuth series. MAP TRAP is Cameron Macintosh’s 6th book of the series, which is illustrated by Dave Atze.
I thoroughly enjoyed this instalment of the adventures of Max Booth and Oscar. A detective duo with an ability to get in and out of mischief and always saving the day. Something ‘like a map’, because maps can be complicated! and can lead us on many journeys and what we discover when we reach our destination is always part of the fun. A GPS navigation unit from 400 years ago creates an adventure all of its own as Max and Oscar work to solve the mystery of a strange looking device.
The illustrations are very life like and thought they depicted what was happening in the text very accurately. He particularly likes how worried Oscar looks when they were surrounded by the robo cops.
Max and his sidekick robo dog Oscar help their friend Jessie identify artifacts from the 20th and 21st centuries for the Bluggseville city museum. That may not sound very exciting to most people, but for Max and Oscar it is very exciting because they live in the year 2424.
On this adventure Jessie has asked Max and Oscar to help identify a device that they think is an old phone. At the Romero Telecommunications museum they explore the old phones from the 21st century. Here they get into their first bit of trouble when they are accused of stealing and are surrounded by robo cops. The guard who thinks he’s caught a couple of thieves is actually Mr Romero himself and after a but of investigation informs them that their device is actually a GPS device.
On their quest to find out who owned it last, the GPS device leads them to a deserted location way out of the city. Here, they narrowly avoid getting caught by some devious looking thieves, stealing a precious piece of old-tech art…
They know they need to get the metal object back and while they are trying to work out how, they run into someone Max used to know, Lily, who is also an escapee from the home for Unclaimed Urchins on Skyburb 6. Lily helps them get into the building where they discover lots of things that shouldn’t be there.
Will Max, Oscar and Lily be able to save the day?
Will the thieves be apprehended?
Will they get caught?
To find out, read MAP TRAP and enjoy Max Booth’s latest adventure. This chapter book for children is ideal for ages 8-10 years and explores the themes of adventure, mystery and sci-fi. This intergalactic adventure will appeal to young readers of mystery and mayhem. The writing is stimulating and exciting, allowing readers to be captivated and be always asking, ‘what will happen next?’
Published by Big Sky Publishing. Thanks to Books On Tour PR & Marketing for organising the blog campaign which this blog is a part of.
Max and Oscar are back for yet another mind-blowing, high-tech mystery in, and out, of Bluggsville in the year 2424. Map Trap is title number 6, and we’ve got to say, author Cameron Macintosh has upped the humour with tonnes of gags that keep on rolling, or navigating, rather, their way through the pages. Teamed with the sharp wit of illustrator Dave Atze, the humorous, supporting black and white cartoons weave around the text at a speed that will have readers thoroughly enjoying the ride. As for the pace of the story, the high-action adventure drives its audience in one direction – excitedly all the way to the final destination!
Upon uncovering a GPS navigation unit from way, way back in the early 2000s, Max Booth and his trusty robo-dog Oscar take a long-winded, danger-filled route in the quest to trace its owner in the faraway town of Binglewood. With one mystery finally unravelled, another presents itself when the duo stumble across inventor Aretha Dorsey’s Holo-sculp – being stolen by some bungling burglars right under their noses. The precious piece of ancient tech art from 2022; a machine that projects holographic sculptures of famous people into the air, is of enormous contention, and you won’t believe who is behind the scandalous theft! With the integration of old and new fascinating characters; introducing Skyburb 7 escapee, friend and crime-fighting assistant, Lily Mareeba, Map Trap takes its readers on a layered journey of relationships from the past, present and future.
With an additional, nifty little section at the back explaining the function and development of the Global Positioning System, you can’t ask for a more complete, well-thought-out narrative.
Combining the relatable, and the thought-provoking, the humour and the questionable, this is undoubtedly a book that junior to middle-grade readers will park themselves down to race through from start to end. Stand alone or read in sequence, the Max Booth Future Sleuth series is packed with fun, misdemeanour and a view into history and the technological future only imaginable. Highly recommended.
In 2021, most kids wouldn’t be aware we used to have devices that were dedicated to helping us find our way around. All of that is now on our smartphones.
In Map Trap, Max and Jessie discover a strange device inside an ancient toaster! Max and his trusty sidekick Oscar go on an adventure to find out what it is.
Once they discover the identity of the object, they then go on a wonderful adventure involving art thieves, old friends, familiar foes, hover-copters, and a race against a dying battery.
Kids will enjoy this adventure, whether or not they have read the other books in the Max Booth Future Sleuth series (although I recommend you read them too).
Cameron Macintosh has imagined a fascinating future that kids will think is very cool, and Dave Atze captures the action in fun illustrations.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I think this would definitely be enjoyed by middle-grade readers who love solving problems and is into adventures and the likes. I just felt like it's too long for its contents and I expected more illustrations from this one.