Danger Danger Danger Danger: “The how-to projects in this book involve electricity, explosions, toxic substances, sharp tools, contents under pressure and other potentially dangerous elements…remember the instructions in the book are not meant to be a substitute for your good judgment and common sense.”
Enter at your own risk.
Nick and Tesla are eleven-year-old twins who are sent to live with their eccentric, mad scientist of an uncle for the summer in a small town in northern California. Their scientist parents are on a supposed trip to research soybean growth in Uzbekistan (which I am ashamed to say, I didn’t even know was a real country! But it is, I Googled it…so see! This book has something to even offer adults!). Right away the twins know it’s going to be a long summer when their uncle forgets to pick them up from the airport, and then forgets to even buy food to accommodate any guests (except for some experiments he is working on such as pre-chewed food, and bacon straws….okay, so that might not seem so bad for some people, but alas, these kids must not have liked bacon…). The Children are left mainly to themselves to salvage their summer. With mostly free rein of their uncle’s lab they decide to entertain themselves by building a rocket. When Tesla’s precious necklace—given to her by her mother before she left—gets caught on the rocket as it takes off, and the rocket soars over a fence around a large house at the end of the street, Tesla and Nick are bound and determined to get it back. But when they approach the house, they find that two mean rottweilers, and some very unfriendly men are guarding it. The mystery increases when Nick sees a strange apparition in one of the windows of the house, a ghostly looking young girl holding up a notepad saying “Go Away.” With the help from some neighbor kids, and some very cool homemade science projects, Nick and Tesla try and unravel the mystery.
This is a very fun book for any middle grade reader. It’s very simple like one would expect, the plot is easy and not very deep, which is no surprise since the main point of the book is engage in the science aspect, not the literary. The book has five homemade science projects that one can do while they read: “Low-tech (practically no-tech) bottle rocket and lau ncher,” “Mint and Soda fueled robocat dog distractor,” “Semi invisible nighttime van tracker,” “Christmas is over intruder alert system do-it-yourself electromagnetic and picker upper.” (*side note* The intruder alert system is one that can definitely come in handy). The book is very accessible to both boys and girls, and there are many humorous episodes especially involving eccentric Uncle Newt, who I couldn’t think of anyone else but Brenden Fraser when I read this. The end of this book is a very interesting set up for furthering the over arching mystery and setting up the next book in the series.