Here we have a brilliant junior novel. It contains all the right ingredients - cars, racing cars and running races, fair play and justice, goodies and baddies and a very, very happy ending. This is a book to enjoy in a family and it should be in every library collection too.
Max's grandfather repairs old cars but in his younger years he built cars and he branded them with the name Champion. Years ago Grandfather Gus took one of his cars, named Arabella, in a car rally from England to India. Until right near the end Arabella was winning the race but they had a serious rival named Adolphus Grabber. Grandfather Gus still has no proof but he is fairly sure the engine failure close to the end of the race was sabotage and that Adolphus Grabber, who won the race, was to blame.
The Grabber family now live near Max, his mother and grandfather. As fate would have it Max finds himself in a running race up against Pablo Grabber. It is a relay race. Max is just about to take off on the final leg. "He didn't see Pablo - nobody saw him, because cheats are often very careful to make sure that nobody seems them cheating."
Everything finally comes to a head when Max and his mother are working at the Grabber mansion. His mother has been employed to make 2000 sandwiches. Max walks away to take a little rest from the sandwiches and stumbles into a room filled with stolen goods and now the chase is really on and it is time for the truth to be revealed.
Begin here and read a chapter sample and here is an audio sample which begins from page 7. The illustrations are just perfect by Kate Hindley. Take a look at my review of Oliver and Patch.
I would follow Max Champion and the Great Race Car Robbery with The No.1 Car spotter series by Atinuke. Take a look at Alexander McCall Smith's web site for a list of all his adult and children's titles. In our school Mike's Magic Seeds is still one of our most popular books and a real treat to read aloud.
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