KIDLIT :: MAX BOOTH FUTURE SLEUTH: CHIP BLIP :: CAMERON MACINTOSH & DAVE ATZE

Hello! Today it’s my turn on the Books on Tour blog tour for Max Booth’s latest adventure: Max Booth Future Sleuth: Chip Blip by Cameron Macintosh and Dave Atze. I was lucky enough to be part of the tour for the previous Max Booth book, Film Flip, which I loved (you can see my review here) so I was super excited to be part of this one too. This is the fifth book in the Max Booth Future Sleuth series, which follows Super Sleuth Max Booth in the year 2424 as he uncovers the secrets of mysterious 20th Century gadgets, with the help of his faithful, but slightly neurotic robodog Oscar. Here’s a little peek at their latest mysterious find: 

Max and his robo-dog, Oscar, are baffled by the discovery of a tiny device that looks like a grain of rice. They soon figure out what it is – an ID chip that should have been implanted into a very special dog … 400 years ago!

The chip leads Max and Oscar to another long-lost treasure … but they aren’t the only folks in the hunt for it. If Max and Oscar aren’t careful, they could be hounded off the treasure trail for good!

Ok, so, I’m not really sure what to say about Max Booth, except that these books are an absolute delight. The pace is fantastic, Max and Oscar are wonderful heroes, and they meet some really excellent villians. The books are clever and fun, and I love the world building and the way that the imagined future tech helps Max and Oscar investigate actual technology that might be just old enough to be mysterious to kids now – in the case of Tape Escape (a cassette tape) and Film Flip (an undeveloped roll of camera film). Oooh, and I adore the illustrations – they really help to bring the story to life!

Chip Blip is no exception to what we’ve seen in the previous books. It feels like a proper romp, with the action taking off right from the beginning, and a great twist of humour too (like Oscar lifting his leg and spraying oil to show his displeasure when a plan doesn’t quite work out). I really like that Max and Oscar find themselves in just enough trouble to make it quite exciting but not enough to be scary, and I love the way that they use their wits to get out of trouble – it really feels quite clever. I also really appreciate how kind and polite and thoughtful Max is – that might sound a bit funny, but it really shines through. Another thing I think is fantastic is the ‘Sleuth Truth’ section at the end, where there are fact about the technology in the book.

Clearly I love these books and would recommend them to the junior readers in your lives (I actually think these ones would be good to have in the birthday present stash – I’ll be giving copies to Amelia’s friends for sure!). Massive thanks to Books on Tour for having me along on the book tour, and for getting a copy of this one to me. Make sure you check out the other stops on the tour!

xo Bron

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Max Booth Future Sleuth: Chip Blip by by Cameron Macintosh and Dave Atze
Out now from Big Sky Publishing
Thanks so much to Books on Tour and Big Sky Publishing for my copy!
Find Cameron Macintosh online here
Find Dave Atze online here