High school freshman Joe McKinnon, loves pizza, hates public speaking, and has fallen hard for a girl. Pretty typical. Not so typical is Joe's prosthetic leg, which he's had since the car crash two years ago that killed his father and left him with a burning desire to rid the world of automobiles.
The object of Joe's affections, Jun Song, is a year behind Joe in school yet way ahead of him in smarts. When Hun is brutally attacked on her way home one day, her already-protective mother shifts into overdrive, making it virtually impossible for Jun and Joe to see each other.
But Joe's into Jun in a big way, and he needs her ginormous brain to make his dream a reality.
Giving up is NOT an option.
Joe signs up for the "Science Team ExtreME" competition, which, as luck would have it, is the perfect way to be with Jun while progressing his ideas for an automated, planet-wide monorail system. Joe enlists former enemy Praveen and new friends Sam and Zoey to begin the design until Jun comes on board and the work really gets started.
Now the only things standing between Joe and his dream are jun's mom, team drama, PTSD, archaic competition rules, seemingly impossible feats of engineering, and a plague of self doubts.
No problem.
John Penteros was kind enough to send enough to send me a copy of his copy- and was very willing to hear my thoughts and opinions through several communications. Honestly, at first, I didn't really know what to expect going in- but boy was I surprised.
I think my favourite thing about the book was reading through Joe and Jun's relationship. I fell in love with the way Joe talked about her. He believed in her when many people didn't and the two seemed to ignite a fire in one another. When Jun is talking to her mother and says "He is sweet, without even trying... I can tell," my heart just about melted. i fell in love with their relationship. So many times throughout reading, I remember just clapping for them- so happy and proud of them for accomplishing everything they did together. It truly was refreshing to read something where s young woman- in the STEM field specifically, was held in high esteem, and acknowledged for her smarts and abilities. These two were absolutely a highlight for me.
I absolutely fell in love with Joe while reading along. I was very inspired by the creativity and motivation brought on by his trauma. He seemed very "wise beyond his years" and such a forward thinker. He acts a lot more mature than a regular high school freshman would, but I think that it is rooted in his experiences. What he went through, made him stronger. Lucky for the readers, they get to witness a lot of growth in Joe as his story progresses. He learns a lot of important life lessons- one of which being the importance of forgiveness. Maintaining healthy relationships, especially when working in a group, is really beneficial. I love Joe and I truly cannot wait to follow more of his story.
I learned a lot while reading this. I think what hit me the most was the idea of making one's dreams a reality, and the journey an individual goes on to get to that point. It's really inspiring and it reminded me that working towards your biggest dreams in life will be so worth it one day. You just have to work at it, and when you get there- I promise you will feel amazing.
Thank you John for the opportunity to read your FANTASTIC novel. I can't wait to read more.
As for you, my darlings- take care of yourselves and stay safe. xx
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