Steel Trapp: The Challenge by Ridley Pearson

Steven (nick named Steel) Trapp is on his way to the national science challenge hoping to win a medal for his amazing sniffing robot. Steel has photographic memory and that is why he remembers a woman who had left her carry-on on the train.  When he tries to return the bag to her, and she denies that it is hers, he unwittingly gets involved with a terrorist plot.  He, and another National Science Challenge contestant, a girl named Kaileigh he meets on the train, put their amazing brains, and science challenge inventions, to the task of unraveling the mystery.  This is a light, fun and fast paced action adventure that will appeal to nerdy kids of either gender.  My only problem with it is that the kids, who are supposed to be 14, act more like they are 11 or 12. They have no romantic interest in each other, and don't mention the awkwardness that would have occurred if 14-year-olds of different genders would have been thrown together as they were. I would bet the editors made Pearson change their age.  The rule of thumb in the editing world is that the main characters are supposed to be 2 years older than the target audience, and this book is definitely targeting pre-teens rather than teens. (324 p)