Stormbreaker (Alex Rider Adventures, Book 1) (by Anthony Horowitz)

Billionaire Herod Sayle is donating his state-of-the-art computers to every school in England. But MI6 is suspicious of his motives, and Ian was killed while investigating him. Now they want to send Alex in to find out what is going on behind the guarded fences of Sayle Enterprises.

Doing a serious review of something like this verges on the ridiculous. This is like a Bond movie for kids -- just for fun. Full of action, suspense, thrill-a-minute adventure, gadgets, and a massively competent kid who saves the world through brains, guts, and martial arts, it keeps young readers enthralled. For what it means to be it is very well done, and is especially good for reluctant readers.

Don't look here for literary value, clever dialogue, character development, logic, or sense. Don't bother with suspending disbelief: You have to stick it in a bag filled with concrete and sink it in the nearest river (or perhaps put it in a tank with a giant poisonous jellyfish, as is done to Alex at one point). But the target audience won't have any trouble suspending disbelief -- they'll eat up every second and beg for more.