Here Come the Monster Trucks

Children's Literature - Beverly Kobrin

Powered by supercharged motors, these monsters are the 10 to 15-feet tall, extraordinarily modified pickup trucks that sit atop 66-inch to 120-inch tires and are maneuvered by drivers who crush and jump over old automobiles for the sport of it. Whether it's a pastime you promote or disdain, the trucks, the people who built them, and the activity itself will fascinate anyone who likes to read about giants and record breakers-and what young reader doesn't!

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-- Six chapters provide a 15-year overview of those ordinary pick-up trucks perched on top of giant tires which move from city to city squashing cars and driving through obstacle courses in planned events. Information is packed into short, punchy sentences. Quotes from drivers and builders; captioned, full-color photographs; and boxed information enliven the text and make it look inviting to less-able readers. Five chapters on building, safety features, and showtime events are followed by one chapter profiling ten of the monster trucks or their drivers (there is one white woman in this whitemale-dominated field). High-quality photographs show the truck interiors, muddy events, and flattened cars, reflecting perhaps ``the joy that people get out of seeing things break--and knowing that someone else is going to have to pay for it.'' A book that is bound to appeal to those who follow this ``sport.'' --Susan Hepler, Arlington Public Library, VA