Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind

Gr 5–8—A top-secret spacecraft, the Newt, has been stolen. With the help of the nerdy dozen, Neil "Astronaut" Andertol, are recruited from NASA to bring it safely back home to planet Earth. Before using their video gaming skills to smoothly navigate the Fossill, a spacecraft, they must pass a few basic training obstacles, including boarding the Vomit Comet. Andertol is chosen to lead the NASA nerdy dozen crew, along with a chimpanzee in a jumpsuit named Boris. While flying into space with little training in a spaceship full of space bananas, Andertol and his crew face several stumbling blocks, such as running away from a monstrous Polar Bear on a Yeti Bobsled inflatable raft and meeting a scientist's kid trapped in a space-bubble-community. Time speeds up as they learn Q-94, the world's most dangerous asteroid, is headed toward Earth. Neil is a born space explorer, and astronomy fans will surely enjoy the story. The short time span of the novel does stretch plausibility. However, there is a great assortment of characters with varying degrees of weirdness, gaming abilities, astronomical jargon, silliness, and, most importantly, a clear mission. The characters are quite interesting and well developed. Middle school students who enjoyed Michael Buckley's "NERDS" series (Amulet) and Dan Gutman's "Genius Files" (Harper) will most likely get a kick out of these books. Reluctant readers who are into online gaming and astronomy will find this an easy action/adventure read.—Krista Welz, North Bergen High School, NJ