Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab

September 30, 2013
A summer with Uncle Newt turns into a wild ride for 11-year-old twins Nick and Tesla Holt. First there’s Uncle Newt himself, a scatterbrained inventor who has them sleeping on a “biomass thermal conversion center”—i.e., a bag of compost. Then there’s the creepy old house nearby with locked grounds and guard dogs, where Nick sees a mysterious girl in the window. And what’s up with the black SUV following them everywhere? Pflugfelder and Hockensmith get their Nick and Tesla series off to a strong start, with narration divided between the siblings and five plot-related DIY activities interspersed, such as making an “intruder alert system” from a string of Christmas tree lights. Fearless Tesla and sensitive Nick are a tenacious and entertaining team, and their new friends and offbeat uncle create a strong supporting cast. The mystery of the girl in the house is wrapped up nicely, yet the stage is clearly set for future action. Garrett’s blue-tinted cartoons accentuate the plot’s more dramatic moments, and a sharp overall design, with circuitry diagrams flanking the pages, gives the book a polished, classic look. Ages 9–12.

October 1, 2013
Sent to spend the summer with a mad-scientist uncle in California, 11-year-old twins Nick and Tesla explore a mysterious, no-longer-abandoned mansion with gadgets they invent and readers can build. In this fast-paced adventure in which the twins inadvertently foil a kidnapping, there are further mysteries: Why is that black SUV following them, and just what are their parents doing in Uzbekistan? There's danger lurking: a pair of Rottweiler guard dogs, a neighbor girl who stands in the window with a sign that says "Go Away," and two men who don't want intruders. Their uncle's lab, with its "Keep Out" sign, is full of intriguing and useful--if possibly explosive--material. Tesla is a girl with guts and good ideas; Nick is equally clever but more cautious. The instructions for making a rocket launcher, a robo-cat, a semi-invisible nighttime van tracker, an alarm and an electromagnet are clear and the diagrams helpful. Opportunities for humor abound, especially in the character of the distracted inventor uncle, first seen covered with sticky orange slime. Art includes circuit board plans and circuit diagrams; pencil illustrations show the twins and their friends, DeMarco and Silas. A sequel, Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage, is scheduled for 2014. A promising first offer in a series that offers plenty of appeal for middle-grade and middle school readers. (Adventure. 9-13)

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November 1, 2013

Gr 3-7-Eleven-year-old twins Nick and Tesla are sent to live with their absentminded Uncle Newt for the summer while their parents are in Karakalpakstan (a region of Uzbekistan) working on soybean irrigation (or are they?). When the kids arrive, their uncle is nowhere to be seen and when they find him glued to his basement laboratory floor in a giant orange blob, it is the first clue that they are in for a wacky summer. The twins have no time to be homesick when strange things start occurring-a black SUV seems to be following them and there's a mysterious girl in a window of a creepy "haunted" house. Befriended by two local kids, the foursome devise clever contraptions designed to outwit ferocious rottweilers (a Mints-and-Soda Fueled Robocat Dog Distracter) and solve the mysterious happenings before it's too late. The authors concoct experiments that science buffs will be delighted to try, with clear instructions and illustrations included (plus safety warnings about having an adult present and helping). Part mystery, part mad science, the story unfolds at a quick pace and is only a smidge far-fetched. With some unexpected plot twists and turns, and a cliff-hanger pointing to the next book in the series, the story will leave readers wondering what mayhem will be forthcoming.-Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2013
Grades 4-7 Eleven-year-old twins Nick and Tesla are a little gloomy about spending the summer with their eccentric inventor uncle, Newt, while their parents are overseas. But once Newt gives them free rein of his very messy, probably very dangerous lab, they're a little more optimistic. Their inventionsthe illustrated directions for which are included in each chapterlead them to a creepy mansion guarded by rottweilers and thugs, where a ghostly girl lurks in the upper windows. Brave, no-nonsense Tesla and slightly skittish Nick are well-rounded, bright kids who use deductive reasoning to build gadgets and outsmart the thugs. Though some inventions are potentially hazardousan electromagnet made out of a battery and a nail, for instance, could burn little fingersPflugfelder, an elementary-school science teacher, carefully warns readers of the potential dangers. Apart from the tantalizing experiments, the authors have crafted an engaging, entertaining mystery peppered with intrepid kids, perilous action, and a cartoonishly silly absentminded inventor. Though Nick and Tesla successfully solve this STEM-themed mystery, a planned sequel means there are plenty more gadget-fueled investigations in their future.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2014
When Nick and Tesla arrive at Uncle Newt's for the summer, the twins find a mystery at a long-abandoned house that can only be solved with science. Luckily, their unconventional uncle gives them open access to his laboratory. Along with cartoon-style spot illustrations, Garrett illustrates instructions for the twins' experiments so readers can do them, too. A zany, fast-paced romp for science buffs.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)