STORM: THE INFINITY CODE
by E. L. Young
Puffin/Penguin Young Readers Group
Hardcover: 9780803732650
Paperback: 9780142413692
Ages 10-up
352 pages

If the Alex Rider and Artemis Fowl books have taught us one thing, it's this: Science. Is. Cool. It's in a world of gadgets and gizmos where kids who might otherwise be dismissed as weird find their place and emerge as extraordinary. Empower them by placing them in a position of authority --- say, self-made spies on a mission to save the world --- and you have established all the necessary ingredients for a hit series.  E. L. Young, a journalist for a British science magazine, taps into this popular genre, adding the unique touch that the gadgets she writes about are based on real objects, with her debut novel, STORM: THE INFINITY CODE.

STORM centers on three teens in London: Will, the loner inventor; Gaia, his multi-lingual classmate; and Andrew, the computer genius whose software earned him his first million dollars by the time he was 10. Andrew has used his considerable wealth to create an organization he calls STORM (Science and Technology to Over-Rule Misery), whose altruistic goal is to make the world a better placed with their combined, advanced skills. Will, still despondent over his father's death months earlier, initially resists the idea, but when the team is able to save a plane that nearly crashes as the result of a solar flare, he begins to warm to the idea of saving lives.

Their next mission proves much harder. The genius son of a kidnapped scientist gets involved with the design of a superweapon in a bid to negotiate his father's release. The STORM team hightails it from London to St. Petersburg, Russia, to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands. What follows is a fast-paced, gadget-laden story that will keep fans of the teen spy genre turning the pages at breakneck speed.

Young, whose background in science writing lends authority to the story, decorates her foray into middle-grade fiction with high-tech gizmos that either exist in real life or are in development (a handy section at the end of the book catalogs the genesis of each device). The narrative plays out with cinematic fervor, and it's easy to assume that we'll be seeing a film adaptation at the local Cineplex in short time. There is a lot here for readers drawn to action, and although the characters come off a little flat in this initial outing, we can hope to see them develop more in future installments.

STORM: THE INFINITY CODE will entrance lovers of the Alex Rider or Young James Bond books and make them wait anxiously for the second volume to hit bookshelves.

    --- Reviewed by Brian Farrey (emohawk9000@gmail.com)

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