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Titles in Order of Publication:
BLIND SPOT: RPM #1
Chris Fabry
Tyndale House Publishers
ISBN-10: 1414312644
ISBN-13: 9781414312644
Ages 9-12
203 pages
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• Read an Excerpt
Tim Carhardt never imagined that a single afternoon at the NASCAR races where his father worked as a part of the crew would change his life forever. But it does when a crazy accident kills his dad, and suddenly his family is gone.
Tim doesn’t count his cousin Tyson and wife Vera as real family, especially since they treat him like an unwanted pest. He quickly learns to stay out of Tyson’s way and tries to lay low at school. It seems to work until the social worker somehow gets him four tickets to see a nearby NASCAR race, and Tim naively believes that some boys from the church he was invited to could be trusted. He quickly gets the real picture when the group poisons him, ditches him, beats him up and terrorizes him whenever possible.
Tim’s life isn’t a life at all, and it doesn’t look to improve --- until he gets an offer to go live with the Maxwells, whose father Dale and daughter Jamie are both NASCAR racers. Dale Maxwell, an outspoken Christian, races for a living, and his teen daughter Jamie loves the sport as much as he does. Jamie, though not so certain about Christianity, is absolutely convinced that racing is the career for her, and she works hard to move up in the ranks in order to be respected as a competitive female driver. Yet Jamie feels conflicted when her folks sometimes hold her back and, like Tim, wonders if God can be trusted.
Jamie’s energies go into competing and winning against fellow driver Chad Devalon, whose dad races against her own. Within a tangle of interwoven life events, it looks as though both Tim and Jamie will be thrown together into the same household and will have to decide for themselves if God and the Christian life make any sense in either of their racing worlds.
Readers who love NASCAR will especially appreciate the fast-paced storyline created by author Chris Fabry, where one dip and curve meshes into the next with breathtaking speed. Fabry's characters are all realistic and believable, and even those who aren't familiar with the ins and outs of the racing world will find themselves intrigued and informed.
--- Reviewed by Michele Howe
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OVER THE WALL: RPM #2
Chris Fabry
Tyndale House Publishers
ISBN-10: 1414312652
ISBN-13: 9781414312651
Ages 9-12
187 pages
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• Read an Excerpt
Living with a NASCAR family is like living in the fast lane 24/7, and the Maxwell home is no exception. When racing competitor Chad Devalon crashes his car immediately after Jamie Maxwell finishes her test drive for Butch Devalon, Jamie is confronted with a number of life decisions.
Jamie realizes that going behind her parents’ back was a mistake, and she also recognizes that something is different (missing?) in her spiritual life when her best friend Cassie promises to pray for Chad. Jamie can’t see the point --- she’s too focused on developing her racing career to have time for God. Strangely, God uses a church play to convince Jamie’s mom to allow her to attend a special school for young racing drivers. Confused but grateful, Jamie continues to wrestle with her personal goals and how these fit into God’s bigger plan for her life.
To further complicate matters, Tim Carhardt, orphaned son of a NASCAR crew team member, is finding it a challenge to adjust to his current living situation. The Maxwells are treating him well, but Tim is not used to “normal” family life, especially a Christian home where talk and life reflect their beliefs. Slowly Tim is getting more comfortable and trusting as he observes Dale Maxwell’s consistent faith both on the track and at home.
As the young teens navigate through the rough terrain of growing independence, each of them is faced with yet another unexpected turn of events. Tim gets placed into “custody” for trying to access his dad’s safety deposit box, and Jamie gets thrown out of racing school for being late. What’s next for these two racing wannabes? And how will they turn these latest surprise setbacks into something positive?
Chris Fabry does another fine job of creating a believable storyline centered on the ups and downs of family life. But adding the wild world of NASCAR racing to the lineup creates even more fun-filled excitement and drama. Readers enthusiastically will be turning each page of this book, anticipating how its main characters work themselves out of their individual predicaments and how faith issues are subtly intertwined within each circumstance.
--- Reviewed by Michele Howe
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