Road Blog

Plot

Product DescriptionWho Knew Getting Lost Could Be So Much Fun–or So Dangerous?When the Websters leave Normal, Illinois, for a family holiday, Austin and Ashley get pulled right back into the World Wide Web–and this time, Mr. and Mrs. Webster get sucked inside the Internet, too! What began as a relaxing getaway turns into a wacky road trip when they set out to find Lost Lake Resort. Soon, the Websters are stumbling through a long lineup of lost links, like LostKitty-dot-com, the Lost Sea cave, a long-lost Inca city, and a lost round-the-world flight.Ah, but this is no vacation, any more! Because the kids’ old rival Mattie Blankenskrean and her assistant Mr. Z still want to wipe out truth on the Internet, and a final showdown with the two drags the whole Webster family into real danger. Can the Websters escape Mattie and find their way back to Normal…before they’re deleted for good?Check out the “HyperLinkz Guide to Safe Surfing” for cool true trivia and Web backgrounders!Don’t miss any of the exciting HyperLinkz adventures!Book 1: Digital DisasterBook 2: Fudge FactorBook 3: Web JamBook 4: Spam AlertBook 5: Hack AttackBook 6: Road BlogAbout the AuthorRobert Elmer is the author of 38 youth novels, including the HyperLinkz series, as well as the Young Underground, Adventures Down Under, Promise of Zion and AstroKids series. A certified teacher, he speaks at schools all over the U.S. He and his wife Ronda are the parents of three young adults. They live in Washington state.Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Introducing…Road BlogEvelyne Webster: Hello. I have to admit this is a little odd for me, talking to Austin and Ashley’s friends like this–I mean, directly, that is. As their parents we’ve never… Well, this is slightly awkward and… Goodness, Tom, why don’t you start?Tom Webster: All right. Fine. This isn’t rocket science, Evy. All we do is type the words, and they show up on the screen. But we’d better get to the point quickly.Evelyne: You tell them, then. You’re doing fine.Tom: All right. The point is, we’re concerned about our kids. Well, maybe not as much about Ashley. She’s involved in the Chiddix Junior High soccer team and gymnastics, even tumbles around the house. But Austin! That’s another story.Evelyne: Be fair, Tom. You don’t have to bring up thatmix-up at school with the vandalism. You know the principal discovered someone else did it.Tom: I know. That’s all behind us.Evelyne: And you have to mention the good things about Austin too. Give people a balanced picture. He’s a good boy.Tom: Of course he’s a good boy. But lately he always has his nose in a computer screen, and half the time I have no idea what he’s doing. So his mother and I came up with a great idea for something to help us really bond as a family–an old-fashioned family vacation. A road trip to Lost Lake Resort up in Michigan, where my folks took me when I was little. Boy, did I have a fantastic time back then!Evelyne: You were two years old.Tom: Well, my dad took lots of pictures. Anyway, the point is that we want Ashley and Austin to experience a family vacation like I did when I was a kid. We figured we’d have a lot of quality time in the car playing “I Spy” and singing songs as we cruise up Highway 51 to Rockford, across into Wisconsin, and straight north to…Evelyne: Maybe they don’t want to hear all the directions, dear. I think they’ll understand when you explain Lost Lake is in upper Michigan.Tom: Right. So we’re getting close to Michigan, and what happens? Austin isn’t looking out the window at the scenery. He isn’t talking to his sister or to us. He’s working on some kind of “blob” thing on his laptop.Evelyne: That’s blog, Tom. He explained that to us, remember?Tom: Sure, I remember. It’s his Web log, which is just a fancy name for a diary. But the point is, he’s been spending too much time on the couch, too much time sitting, not enough time out doing what kids his age should be doing