The School for the Insanely Gifted

Gr 4—7—Daphna Winters, 11, attends New York City's Blatt School for the Insanely Gifted, whose founder, Ignatious Peabody Blatt, is a computer genius. Her two best friends are Harkin Thunkenreiser, a boy inventor who can collapse his car into a laptop-size package, and Cynthia Trustwell, a Broadway star who dreams of performing a one-woman Macbeth. Daphna spends her time composing music and hoping for news of her mother, who vanished over the Atlantic. When a group of goons comes after her, she wonders if their presence is linked to her mother's disappearance. Daphna and her friends fly to Mt. Kilimanjaro to find her mother's college friend, Billy B. Brilliant. His connection to her and to Ignatius Blatt leads to a showdown in which the girl fights to stop Blatt from brainwashing the entire city. Elish has created a school story with genius students and a likable main character. While plot trumps character, Daphna manages to express her need for family and tie up some emotional loose ends before saving the day. This lively adventure parades enough gadgets to capture readers' imaginations. Daphna and her friends have deus ex machina down to a science as they escape one situation after another with the help of chewing gum that surfs the Internet or an apartment whose rooms collapse. Give this one to children who like modern-day superhero stories.—Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT