A fun STEM-based mystery series for middle grades

 Nick and Tesla Series:

By “Science” Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab: A Mystery with Electromagnets, Burglar Alarms, and Other Gadgets You Can Build Yourself

Age Range: 9 - 12 years

Grade Level: 4 - 7

Lexile Measure: 680L

Series: Nick and Tesla (Book 1)

Hardcover: 240 pages

Publisher: Quirk Books (November 5, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1594746486

ISBN-13: 978-1594746482

Publisher’s Blurb:

Nick and Tesla are bright 11-year-old siblings with a knack for science, electronics, and getting into trouble. When their parents mysteriously vanish, they’re sent to live with their Uncle Newt, a brilliant inventor who engineers top-secret gadgets for a classified government agency. It’s not long before Nick and Tesla are embarking on adventures of their own—engineering all kinds of outrageous MacGyverish contraptions to save their skin: 9-volt burglar alarms, electromagnets, mobile tracking devices, and more. Readers are invited to join in the fun as each story contains instructions and blueprints for five different projects.

In Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab, we meet the characters and learn how to make everything from rocket launchers to soda-powered vehicles. Learning about science has never been so dangerous—or so much fun!

Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage: A Mystery with Hoverbots, Bristle Bots, and Other Robots You Can Build Yourself

Age Range: 9 - 12 years

Grade Level: 4 - 7

Lexile Measure: 730L

Series: Nick and Tesla (Book 2)

Hardcover: 224 pages

Publisher: Quirk Books (February 4, 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1594746494

ISBN-13: 978-1594746499

Publisher’s Blurb:

When a rash of robberies hits the town of Half Moon Bay, 11-year-old sleuths Nick and Tesla are determined to catch the criminals—but to do so, they'll have to build a host of new gadgets and gizmos! In this robot-themed follow-up to Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab, the brother-and-sister duo build four different droids out of ordinary household objects—and illustrated instructions are included throughout the story, so you can build them, too! Make bristlebots that buzz, hoverbots that float above the ground, battlebots that duke it out, and more! Can Nick and Tesla catch the criminal mastermind—and foil his army of rampaging robots—before it's too late?

Nick and Tesla's Secret Agent Gadget Battle

Age Range: 9 - 12 years

Grade Level: 4 - 7

Series: Nick and Tesla (Book 3)

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: Quirk Books (May 6, 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1594746761

ISBN-13: 978-1594746765

Publisher’s Blurb:

After foiling a gang of kidnappers and fending off an army of robots, 11-year-old siblings Nick and Tesla Holt could use a little rest! But as their third mystery opens, they discover there’s a spy in their midst, searching for secrets in the home of their beloved (and slightly crazy) Uncle Newt. Is it the new laboratory assistant? The exterminator? The housekeepers? Or someone completely unexpected? To expose the mystery agent, Nick and Tesla must engineer all kinds of outrageous contraptions, from code wheels and fingerprint powder to spy cameras and burglar detectors. Best of all, instructions are included throughout the story, so you can build the projects, too!

Nick and Tesla's Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove: A Mystery with a Blinking, Beeping, Voice-Recording Gadget Glove You Can Build Yourself

Age Range: 9 - 12 years

Grade Level: 4 - 7

Series: Nick and Tesla (Book 4)

Hardcover: 272 pages

Publisher: Quirk Books (October 7, 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1594747296

ISBN-13: 978-1594747298

Publisher’s Blurb:

Einstein is running amok! Darwin is losing his head! The science museum in Half Moon Bay is in big trouble because its robotic replicas of history’s greatest scientists keep going kablooey! As 11-year-old amateur inventors Nick and Tesla Holt try to uncover the cause, they’ll need to keep adding all-new gadgets to their latest creation, a customized super-cyborg glove. Follow the action, and then follow the illustrated instructions to build your own gadget glove with four incredible functions: LED signal light, emergency alarm, sound recorder, and UV secret-message revealer!

 Nick and Tesla's Special Effects Spectacular: A Mystery with Animatronics, Alien Makeup, Camera Gear, and Other Movie Magic You Can Make Yourself!

Age Range: 9 - 12 years

Grade Level: 4 - 7

Series: Nick and Tesla (Book 5)

Hardcover: 256 pages

Publisher: Quirk Books (May 5, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1594747601

ISBN-13: 978-1594747601

Publisher’s Blurb:

11-year-old siblings Nick and Tesla Holt find themselves on the set of a big-budget superhero movie. But someone’s sabotaging the onscreen debut of their favorite comic book hero, so the brother and sister sleuths must crack the case with the help of a fresh assortment of homemade special-effects gadgets. This cinematic saga features instructions for all-new movie magic projects that kids can build themselves, such as camera gear, stunt dummies, make-up magic, and more. Science and electronics have never been so much fun! 

My thoughts on the series:

This is a lot of fun. I am way out of the target age range, but I enjoyed the stories. Middle-grade detectives, crazy scientist uncle, and international intrigue all converge. The projects are the type that kids in the target group will enjoy—my (bright) third-grader can’t wait to try some out. The illustrations could be clearer for the technically inept such as myself. However, there are videos available, as well as other cool information, at http://www.nickandtesla.com . It’s an entertaining website—fun even if you don’t have the books. Overall, though, the instructions are fairly clear and the parts needed are not too exotic. The earlier books give Radio Shack part numbers—alas, Radio Shack is no more.

The characters themselves range in believability. Nick and Tesla interact like real children. Other characters are more stereotypical, stock characters. However, the intended audience is not generally looking for sophisticated literary material. The characters, overall, are entertaining. There could be more female characters—beyond Tesla, the female characters tended to be minor. There are characters of color.

 

A sixth book is forthcoming.

Possible objectionable material:

Squeaky clean, no cursing. Some perilous situations, kids sneaking out at night, and somewhat oblivious adults.

Who would like these books:

Kids with an interest in science and inventing, and their adult helpers. Fans of mysteries, adventure, and spy stories.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the advance reader e-books.

 

(My apologies for crazy formatting issues.)

 

An origin tale for Scheherezade

A Thousand Nights

By E. K. Johnston

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion (October 6, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1484722272

ISBN-13: 978-1484722275

Approximate Lexile: 920

 

Publisher’s blurb:

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next. And so she is taken in her sister's place, and she believes death will soon follow. But back in their village her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air in its place. Lo-Melkhiin's court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun sets and rises, and she is not dead. Night after night Lo-Melkhiin comes to her, and listens to the stories she tells and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong. The words she speaks to him every night are given strange life of their own. She makes things appear. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to rule of a monster.

 

My thoughts:

Based on the tale of Scheherezade, the woman who entertains a king nightly with her 1001 tales and escapes with her life, this story takes on a life of its own. In fact, in the end of the story, it talks about how the true story has already changed with retelling—which makes it into a precursor of Scheherezade.

 

Set in an unnamed time and place in the Middle East, only a handful of characters have names. The demon/king is one, the soldier/stonecarver another. A Skeptic (scientist) is named Sokath, His Eyes Uncovered, which made me laugh out loud upon reading it. (Bonus points to anyone who catches the reference. I wrote to the author to chortle over it, and she admitted it was deliberately done. Apparently, there are others, but I didn’t catch them.) The rest of the characters are identified by their occupation or relationship. Some reviewers have said that this made it difficult to identify with the point-of-view character, but I disagree. I think it gives her a degree of universality. She could be anyone who finds the bravery to save a beloved sister, and then her way of life. It must have been a challenge for the author to find ways for the characters to refer to one another without overusing pronouns!

 

I also love how the POV character refers to the father of her half-sister and herself as “our father,” to their home as “our home.” There was very little “my” in this story. This emphasized the familial bond for me.

The POV character starts out strong and gets stronger, developing true power as well as the moral compass to use it carefully. When she fears that her accidental creation has forced her sister into a marriage that she might not have wanted, she feels real guilt which rings true to the reader.

 

Lovely characters and believable plot. This is not a romance, although love does develop. Instead, it’s a story about finding the strength to do what needs to be done.

 

Possible objectionable material:

Hunting and killing of animals. Deaths of people through  mystical and human means. A  battle near the end. A family member dies in a flood. Reference to “smallgods” might bother those who believe that reference to any but one god is sacrilegious, or to those who prefer no reference to gods at all. The belief in household gods is appropriate to the culture. No cursewords. A married couple spends nights together, but the marriage is unconsummated. The POV character’s father has multiple wives (again, culturally appropriate).

 

Who would like this book:

It is billed as a children’s book, so probably age 10 and up. Although the POV character is female, I think boys could enjoy the story. Anyone who likes familiar tales that take on new life.

 

Thank you, NetGalley, for the Advanced Reader e-book.

Squeaky Clean Romance

 

Lord Fenton's Folly (Proper Romance)
by Josi S. Kilpack
Series: Proper Romance
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing (October 6, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1629720666
ISBN-13: 978-1629720661
Approximate Lexile: 1130

 Publisher’s Blurb:

Lord Fenton is a gambler and a dandy, and he will be stripped of his wealth and position unless he rises to his responsibility—one of which is to marry. Far from being a giddy groom, Fenton chooses the unobjectionable Alice Stanbridge simply because he had known her as a young girl and his mother feels Alice would make a good wife.

Alice, however, has harbored feelings for Fenton since their first meeting years ago, and his proposal is a dream come true. Not only would a match with the most-eligible bachelor in London secure her future, but it will also give her a place of distinction and admiration. Had anyone admired Alice for anything before now?

When Alice learns that she is not only an unwanted wife, but a demanded one, however, she closes her heart. Only when Lord Fenton faces the greatest trial of his life does he begin to find love beyond the folly. Could a great love come from a beginning such as this?

My Thoughts:

Wow. It’s been a looooong time since I’ve read a straightforward, not-ashamed-to-say-it romance novel. I see the formula hasn’t changed. Meet cute. Hate each other for a while. Decide you love each other after all. Live happily ever after. It only took me three hours start to finish. (Hint: Don’t start a new book at 9 p.m.)

Alice is a strong character with a mind of her own, not a simpering, marriage-minded girl. Since this book is set in an era where a woman’s only (or close to only) option is marriage, that’s a nice thing. The fact that the man she’s had a crush on since she was a child is the one asking is a great bonus. Too bad he is only marrying because he has to.

 Fortunately, it’s not quite as simple as that. What I really enjoyed about this book is its examination of the effects of parental actions on their children. Fenton is the seeming-idiot because he doesn’t want to become his father.

 Yes, the ending is predictable, but the journey there is fun, and the lead characters are both worthy of their happy-ever-after.

Possible objectionable material:

References to sex, married and extramarital, but nothing shown. The hottest it gets here is desire. A character is developmentally delayed—possibly Down Syndrome, but is treated with great kindness.

 Who would like this book:

Romance fans who don’t need sex scenes—or even much kissing. This is very much about emotion, not physicality. Probably women more than men. It’s squeaky clean, so if a middle-grader wanted to read it, I wouldn’t object, though they might not quite have the emotional maturity yet for the full effect.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the Advanced Reader e-book.

Jane Austen meets Magic

Sorcerer to the Crown: A Sorcerer Royal Novel

By Zen Cho

Series: A Sorcerer Royal Novel

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Ace (September 1, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0425283372

ISBN-13: 978-0425283370

Approximate Lexile: 1260

 

Publisher’s Blurb:

The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers, one of the most respected organizations throughout all of England, has long been tasked with maintaining magic within His Majesty’s lands. But lately, the once proper institute has fallen into disgrace, naming an altogether unsuitable gentleman—a freed slave who doesn’t even have a familiar—as their Sorcerer Royal, and allowing England’s once profuse stores of magic to slowly bleed dry. At least they haven’t stooped so low as to allow women to practice what is obviously a man’s profession…

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers and eminently proficient magician, ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up. But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

My Thoughts:

As I began this book, I found it pretentious. It seemed to be trying too hard to be Jane Austen meets sword and sorcery—with commentary on racial prejudices of the Regency era thrown in for a bonus. I put it aside for a while, and when I returned, it only took me a couple of chapters to start really having fun. It might have been around the time Prunella comes on the scene.

By the end, I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

The author does a good job of slowly revealing important knowledge—what happened to Leofric, who Prunella’s mother is, and so forth, and she reveals them at the right time for the story—not in a way that seems contrived, but when it’s important to the plot.

I enjoyed Zacharias’ reluctance to use his power, but, once he had it, he was determined to use it wisely and well. Prunella’s original goal—an advantageous marriage—gets sidetracked, but in a very beneficial way indeed!

Possible objectionable material:

If you don’t like magic, don’t read this. There is some minor violence and injury from magical attacks. No cursing or sex—this is just as clean as any Jane Austen novel.

Who would like this book:

Lovers of Jane Austen, fantasy, or both. This has only mild moments of romance, so if you’re in it for the romance, this might not be the book for you. Because of the Regency-era style, there are some more elevated vocabulary words and more complex sentences, so I’d say strong middle graders on up. I think boys can enjoy this just as much as girls, even if they aren’t Jane Austen fans!

Thank you, NetGalley for the Advanced Reader ebook. I’ll be looking for the other books in this series as they come.