Beneath

Roland Smith

- 4.6 • 45 Ratings

- $5.99

- $5.99

Roland Smith, the master of middle-grade adventure, returns with a new novel full of high-speed chases, secret identities, and a dangerous underground world.What waits Beneath?Pat O'Toole has always idolized his older brother, Coop. He's even helped Coop with some of his crazier plans -- such as risking his life to help his big brother dig a tunnel underneath their neighborhood in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Coop is . . . different. He doesn't talk on the phone, doesn't use email, and doesn't have friends. He's never really cared for anything but the thrill of being underground and Pat. So it's no surprise to anyone -- even Pat -- that after a huge fight with their parents, Coop runs away. Exactly one year later, Pat receives a package containing a digital voice recorder and a cryptic message from his brother. He follows the clues to New York City, and soon discovers that Coop has joined the Community, a self-sufficient society living beneath the streets. Now it's up to Pat to find his brother -- and bring him home.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY DEC 22, 2014

Smith (Mutation) delivers a tightly plotted mystery that incorporates themes of nonconformity and social rebellion. Pat O'Toole, 13, is not surprised when his 18-year-old brother, Coop, disappears. Coop has always been quirky: he is an avid tap dancer, collects flashlights, can't drive, won't email, and once dug a tunnel more than a mile long in their Virginia neighborhood before a gas line explosion nearly killed the two of them. Pat's parents are preoccupied with their breakup, careers, and new romances, so when Pat begins receiving digital voice recordings from Coop, he sneaks away to New York City to find his brother. Clues lead Pat to an alternative society that exists underground, but he soon discovers Coop has been drawn into an exclusive and dangerous group called the Pod. The narrative is constructed as Pat's "hybrid journal," which has been "transcribed" from the brothers' digital audio recordings, putting their voices front and center. Humor, a perilous setting, intense relationships, and the slow unveiling of the machinations at work behind the Pod give the story emotion and grit. Ages 10 14.

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