Scudder, Jack: - Jack is a first-time children's book author who wants to see more kids understand the inner workings of vehicles so that they know how to take care of them as they get older and start driving their own. Jack started working on vehicles alongside his dad when he was about 3 years old. Even if he was just holding a screwdriver off to the side, he was carefully observing and asking a bunch of questions. When Dad didn't know the answer, the two would sit side-by-side and look it up together. Once he mastered his first Radio Flyer tricycle, he moved on to scooters, motorcycles, tractors, cars, trucks (and even boats!). He's not afraid to get insanely dirty (much to Mom's chagrin) and knows more about carburetors than Crayola. When Jack was old enough to start reading, he became obsessed with automotive shop manuals, Chilton Repair Manuals being his favorite. He'd pour through the contents like his friends obsessed over Goosebumps. He once found an old run-down Velo Solex motorized bike on the curb, pushed it home to inspect, then insisted that mom print the entire manual from the internet so he can break down the engine part-by-painstaking-part until he finally figured out the problem. He knows his old Craftsman tractor like the back of his hand. And, by the time Jack was 10 years old, he had his heart set on buying a fixer-upper truck to work on with his dad. At 12 years old, that's exactly what he did. And he can't even legally drive it yet. Jack lives in Florida with his family. He's a military kid and proud of it! Mom is retired U.S. Air Force, a 15-year classroom teacher, and an award-winning children's book author. Dad is a Captain in the U.S. Navy. Jack started homeschooling in 5th grade, loves the flexibility of his schedule, and stays busy with his local Sea Cadets unit on many weekends. When he's not tinkering in the garage, he's SCUBA diving, tearing apart and rebuilding computers, gaming, and generally driving his mother crazy.