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I,Q: Independence Hall by Roland Smith Review

Independence Hall

Fame has arrived for rockers Blaze and Roger! Just married, leaving Los Angeles, and touring the United States with teenagers Q (Quest) and Angela in tow, the excitement heightens in Philadelphia when Angela realizes she’s being followed. Q soon learns the secret about Angela’s real mother – a former Secret Service agent.

Readers are thrust into current issues affecting the world in this edge-of- your-seat, modern-day mystery adventure. I, Q readers will be immersed in the work of U.S. Secret Service, the Mossad, and the MI5. But who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? What happens to this newly formed family if Angela’s mom is not dead?

Plot:

This was not what I expected. Mostly because I skipped reading the blurb and just went off what my cousins told me when asking me to read it. I wasn’t really looking forward to it. The kids become spies? Ugh. This is going to be Spy Kids in book form.

This book exceeded my expectations.

Quest (Q) Munoz doesn’t expect anymore than sight seeing and schoolwork after he’s thrown on tour with his now famous mother and step-father. Then come in old roadie, Angela the step-sister, some Israeli spies, and a terrorist that might not be stepping too far from home.

This wasn’t Spy Kids. These were just two kids that got stuck in the middle of finding the elusive terrorist that some old spooks think may be Angela’s dead mother.

Plot: 5 out of 5

Characters:

I’m pretty sure this was an MG novel. The characters struck me as those type of characters. Q was humorous, amusing, and a magician. I found it quite fun to watch him trick people by making objects appear all over the place. I did that once. I still haven’t told the poor people how I did it. They’ve guessed the answer, I’ve just refused to say yes or no. Q doing it really amused me.

Angela, on the other hand, seemed more Spy Kids-esque. But what was I expecting? Her mother was a spy before she died. Sure Angela was taught to be extra observant, how to shake a tail, and tae kwon do.

Overall, the characters were very amusing and humorous. Most kids would enjoy this book.

Characters: 4 out of 5

Writing Style:

Smith’s writing is very amusing. Q came in quite clear through the writing and I understood it all. Everything was weaved in perfectly, with just the right touch of humor. There were even paragraphs filling in extra thoughts, which I’m pretty sure I’ve read is against most writing rules and it most commonly annoys me. However, it was perfect. It was perfect in Q’s perspective and it only improved the book.

Writing Style: 4 out of 5

Overall: 4 out of 5. This was a good clean book that I think most will enjoy. 11+, but there’s a little violence, so I’ll leave it to parental decision. You can purchase it on Amazon.

I checked this out of the library in order to read and review.

3 Comments


  1. // Reply

    I’ve always worried this book would be kind of so-so… But maybe I’ll give it a shot 🙂


    1. // Reply

      I worried the same. It was a little so-so, but I needed something easy to understand that day. I was reading a lot of more complicated stuff at the time, and I just needed a break. This was perfect for that.

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