This book takes place on a family road trip where the kids have to fight their way to protect the government agency that they work for. Along the way they come across bad guys who will do anything to get in the way and make life difficult. This book is good for middle school students ( )

On a cross-country vacation with their parents, twins Coke and Pepsi fend off strange assassins as they try to come to terms with their being part of a top-secret government organization.

I’ve always loved Dan Gutman. I like his humor. I’m not sure I agree with his idea to name the main characters Coke and Pepsi, but hey, it’s memorable.

This book is high speed action with quite a bit of comic relief. Dr. Herman Warsaw is outside the Pentagon smoking a cigarette when the plane hits on 9/11. He’s so traumatized that he comes up with the crazy theory that children can solve problems better than adults. He tracks down the smartest kids to form this elite group of problem solvers. Twins Coke and Pepsi have been selected and now someone is trying to kill them.

As luck would have it, their mom has planned a coast to coast RV trip to visit oddball tourist attractions for her blog “Amazing But True.” Unfortunately, this does not elude the killers. Mysterious notes begin showing up with encrypted messages. Pepsi must crack the code and follow the instructions. None of it makes sense, but they do what they’re told and try to stay alive, all while keeping their parents in the dark. That's not too hard because they’re a little clueless anyway.

I love the weird tourist attractions and the notes in code. What kid doesn’t like writing in code so the adults don’t know what they’re saying? All the tourist attractions are real places. I checked them. I’m sure all kids who read this book will have the internet handy. The book totally makes me want to jump in an RV and head across America. Here’s a list of the places they visit.
Pez museum-CA.
Yo-yo museum-CA
Donner Party museum-CA
Singing Sand National Park-NV
Bonneville salt flats-UT
Carhenge-NE
Largest ball of twine-KS
Spam museum-MN
Another largest ball of twine-MN
House on the Rock-WI

House on the Rock is only half way across the country and that’s where the book ends. Be sure to have Book 2 ready, because kids are not going to want to wait to find out what happens next.

( )

This book is about twins named Coke and Pepsi (Pep) who are unwillingly accepted into The Genius Files, which is a bunch of genius kids from all over America. On 9/11 Dr. Warsaw goes insane and creates the GF (Genius Files). The twins are a few days away from turning 13. They are traveling cross country to D.C. to go to their aunt's wedding. Along the way the evil and insane Dr. Warsaw sends minions out to kill Coke and Pep. They have to sort of save America while hiding it from their parents. Along the way they stop at lots of interesting museums because their mom works at "Incredible but True".
This book is mind boggling starting at page one. The way the author gets kids in crazy. You get attached to everyone in the book and you feel like a part of the twins' journey. It's filled with comedy and interesting facts.You just can't put book down! It is one of my favorite novels along with the Land of Stories. ( )

The books starts with Coke and Pepsi McDonald, yes those are their names. They are very intelligent siblings who are about to turn 13. For their birthday, because they are twins, they are going on a road trip. Before the road trip, they were at school on the last day. They were in a class room, in detention, and the school got on fire. The janitor then helps them leave the school, starting off their new weird life. Bowler hat people constantly try to kill them by coming from random places. Other villains always try to chase them and kidnap them. They then have the main villain fall hundreds of feet into a forest, then went on their day. They did this only to discover this is the man marrying Coke and Pepsi's cousin.
It is a fantastic book, it is unbelievable. It is one of the most enjoyable books I ever read. It has thrilling moments everywhere in the books. The funny moments when they stop at weird museums, that the author actually visited to understand the building. It is action-filled, and the characters are both interesting and just plain out funny. The parents are surprisingly interesting characters, one is a person who has a site for funny facts, and one is a doctor. It is an amazing book where everything comes together perfectly and is fun to read. ( )