110. The Perfect Escape by Suzanne Park

listened on Chirp
narrated by Kate Rudd & Raymond Lee
Unabridged audio (7:18)
2020
336 pgs.
YA RomCom
Finished 7/28/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.44 - 477 ratings
My rating: 3.5
Setting: contemporary America

First line/s: "I'd recited this blah script more than 50 times."

My comments: A very cute story about a super-intelligent Korean senior and the rich-girl actress senior from another school that meet as employees in a zombie escape room.  Bullies and crappy fathers, cute five-year-old sisters and a yearning for the future all come together in a story for a quick and easy read.  Nothing new, but a fun listen.  

Goodreads synopsis:  Nate Jae-Woo Kim wants to be rich. When one of his classmates offers Nate a ridiculous amount of money to commit grade fraud, he knows that taking the windfall would help support his prideful Korean family, but is compromising his integrity worth it?

          Luck comes in the form of Kate Anderson, Nate’s colleague at the zombie-themed escape room where he works. She approaches Nate with a plan: a local tech company is hosting a weekend-long survivalist competition with a huge cash prize. It could solve all of Nate’s problems, and Kate needs the money too.
          If the two of them team up, Nate has a true shot at winning the grand prize. But the real challenge? Making through the weekend with his heart intact…

Shark vs. Train - Chris Barton

Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Little, Brown & Co., 2010
$16.99
Rating: 5
32 pages
Endpapers: Lt. blue with 2 x 3ish toybox in the center

Okay -- this one looked stupid, but wasn't. Not at all. It's fun. It's clever. It'll have kids using great higher-order thinking skills like comparing and contrasting. Their synapses will be snapping and their imaginations will be running wild.

The book begins (and ends) with two boys looking for toys to play with, rummaging around in a toybox. It turns into a competition between the two toys they choose, a shark and a train that is comprised of an engine, four cars, and a caboose. Which will do best in a hot air balloon? Which will be best at roasting marshmallows? Who's taller when it comes to shooting baskets, or who will attract more riders at a carnival? Let the competition begin!

Note: The poor shark seems to have a more....evil....look than the more laid-back, nervous train. Such facial expressions on each! There's lot to examine in every picture.

Simple, bold, clear font. Some of the pictures use "talk clouds" to add a small bit of dialogue.

Yes, this is a good one.

Here's Chris Barton's page with all sorts of reviews from his book.