A pacy and exciting adventure with a strong set of characters. I liked the ethical aspect of the plot and kids will love the twins' mission.

Twin geniuses Jacob and Kira are recruited from their home in Uganda to take part in a high-tech mission to protect the planet. They are taken from their home in Africa when they realise someone has been watching their every move, and plans to enlist them in a top secret agency called Transcendent, in London, where they must go through rigorous training to embark on a mission to space. But is this really what is going on? (No... in a nutshell!) The exciting, pacy plot ends on quite the cliffhanger, and the sparky, intelligent characters have good appeal although the writing style clunks a little at times.

Hmmm… I'm sure the target tween audience will lap this up, but to this adult this seemed ridiculously earnest and over-written. Why we need to know where a certain mountain ranks in Africa's list of peak peaks, I don't know – it's not the only rather pointless diversion en route to – well, that would be telling. It's certainly a long way from the African towns the piece starts in. Over-wrought hokum, where two stars is me being very generous.

Fact-paced non-stop action thriller that also manages to ask lots of questions - about nature and our responsibility for it, and questioning what we're told as there might be more to a story. The family relationships in this are great, and the descriptions of Uganda will absolutely transport readers there. Cliffhanger ending has me wanting more from these siblings please!

We explore the good-hearted and smart twins Kira and Jacob in this adventure about nature, science and family.
It is a cool book for older children (9+) and has great messages in it. I loved that the characters are from Uganda and such representation is much-needed.

The story is full of exciting moments, adventures and secrets.

Transcendent is a fast-paced story about family, brother-sister relationships, following your moral compass, solving problems with science and saving the world! I loved the messages in this book - from treating the environment with care, to treating others with compassion to not always accepting a situation at face value.
As a tutor, it will be a great one to read together with students. I love how it encourages children to think critically about the world and I look forward to analysing all the techniques used. We'll be going through comprehension questions on this that I've already written(!) and we'll definitely be inspired to write our own related stories. Let's not forget - we'll enjoy the funny moments together too!
Transcendent is the perfect blend of humour, adventure and the coverage of serious and important topics.
I would recommend it to children in UKS2 or KS3 - especially those who don't mind a scary moment or two.