The Real Thing by Brian Falkner
Sometimes I just need to read more quickly. I picked up this book about a week late. But maybe that is the best advertisement possible for this book.
Last week I had a year 7 boy come up to me and ask ‘Can you tell me the where the book about the thieves who stole the formula for Coca Cola is? I started reading it last time and I want to continue it.’ I had no idea what he was talking about, but it registered I needed to find that book that could keep a 12 year old hanging on for a week to find out what would happen next. So when this book finally made its way to the top of the reading list and it opened with an explanation of how the formula for Coca Cola was protected, I was keen to read it, preferably without interruption.
But before I go on. The book opens at a school fete where three friends from Glenfield High are running a taste contest. Fizzer has the best taste buds in the world. He can tell the difference between any two drinks, absolutely foolproof. This talent becomes very important when the the formula for Coca Cola is stolen and the world is running out of Coke. Fizzer is employed by Coca Cola to help recreate the formula. But naturally in any adventure story, things go wrong and Fizzer and his friend Tupai are suddenly caught up in the middle of an international crime ring and murderous villains.
OK, so this summary sounds silly. The beauty of Falkner’s writing is that he makes this apparently insane idea seem plausible. The adventure is a winner. I got so caught up in the story that interruptions were pushed aside until I finished, only about 2 hours later.
I have already said tons about Falkner in my review of Super Freak so I won’t go on again here. But I am really looking forward to finding the time to read The Super Flea, the third book in the series.
