Nick and Tesla and the Secret Agent Gadget Battle

Description

Uncover a secret agent and build spy gadgets with twin sleuths Nick and Tesla in this zany, action-packed middle grade adventure by “Science Bob” Pflugfelder!

After rescuing a kidnapped heiress and taking down a robot army, 11-year-old twins Nick and Tesla could really use a break. But before they can kick back and relax, the young sleuths discover there’s a spy in their midst! Someone in the town of Half Moon Bay is spying on their Uncle Newt, an eccentric inventor. To uncover the true identity of this secret agent, Nick and Tesla must build their own spy gadgets, from burglar alarms and code wheels to a water balloon trap and more. 

Now in paperback, this third book in the popular Nick and Tesla series features laugh-out-loud jokes, fun illustrations, and five DIY science projects with step-by-step instructions for readers to try at home.“This high-speed caper with comical characters, clever kid detectives, and an ever-deepening mystery (with a cliff-hanger, of course) will keep the pages turning.”—Booklist
 
“With the promise of more mystery, science, and humor to come, children will be anxiously waiting for more adventures—and more inventions—from Nick and Tesla.”—School Library Journal
 
“Fast-paced, suspenseful and enlivened with grayscale illustrations, this is appealing middle-grade reading . . . [and] the continuing mystery will keep readers wanting more.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
Praise for Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab

“Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab has the perfect formula:  Mega-watts of funny writing plus giga-hertz of hands-on science equals fun to the billionth power!”—Chris Grabenstein, New York Times best selling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

“Real project blueprints are included along with this tale of 11-year-old siblings who create outrageous contraptions and top-secret gadgets.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“…the combination of exciting elements and innovative DIY projects in action yields a guaranteed pager turner.”—ScienceBuddies.org

“[Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab is] a great way to show kids that problems can often be solved by applying a bit of creative energy with some tech know-how. And Nick and Tesla (and Uncle Newt) are the perfect companions for your young reader looking for some (safe) adventures.”—Geek Dad
 
“A mystery, adventure, and activity book all rolled into one entertaining story….Plenty of excitement, with science.”—Common Sense Media
 
“Part mystery, part mad science…the story will leave readers wondering what mayhem will be forthcoming.”—School Library Journal
 
“…a strong start…”—Publishers Weekly

“How do you connect students interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) with fiction reading? Look for science adventures. Get started with the NICK AND TESLA series. Each book contains an engaging adventure revolving around a “build-it-yourself” science project.”—Teacher Librarian
 
“Engaging characters and brisk plotting make this a fun and educational read.”—Jennifer Ouellette, author of The Calculus Diaries and The Physics of the Buffyverse
 
“A promising first offer in a series that offers plenty of appeal for middle-grade and middle school readers.­”—Kirkus

“Suspenseful, funny, and loaded with do-it-yourself robots, rockets, and burglar alarms. Nick and Tesla are an unforgettable new detective team, sure to inspire an entirely new generation of scientists and readers. Can’t wait for the next book!”—Amy Herrick, author of The Time Fetch
 
“A book with action, adventure, mystery, humor — and instructions on how to build rockets and robots.  What more could young readers possibly want?  ’Nick & Tesla’ is a great book that will keep your kids enthralled with its intriguing story — and inspire them with its clever science experiments.  I can’t wait for the further adventures of these fascinating characters.”—Stuart Gibbs, Edgar-nominated author of Spy School and Belly Up
 
“I love the book! It combines science, intrigue and great fiction together in a wild ride for the reader. Nothing tickles me more than seeing a story really charged up with science. And the projects are so much fun! More please!”—Lynn Brunelle, four-time Emmy Award–winning writer for “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and the author of Pop Bottle Science
 
“What kid wouldn’t want to join Nick and Tesla and their wacky family? This is a great way for budding scientists to have fun while exploring the intricacies of physics, chemistry, and more–up close, personal, and hands-on!”—Jane Hammerslough, author of Owl Puke: The Book and Dino Poop: And Other Remarkable Remains of the Past

“Pflugfelder and Hockensmith debut a captivating series about crime-solving kid inventors in the spirit of Tom Swift and Alvin Fernald. But Nick and Tesla give us what their literary predecessors always omitted: blueprints for whiz-bang inventions that kids can actually build themselves (with some adult assistance). Electromagnets, tracking devices, rockets and the like. Hands-on science has never been so cool.”—Joseph D’Agnese, author of Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci“Science Bob” Pflugfelder is a science teacher, author, maker, and presenter that knows how to share the world of science like never before. He is a regular guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Live With Kelly and Ryan, The Dr. Oz Show, and Nickelodeon’s Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn. His television appearances also include The Today Show, Hack My Life, Good Morning America, Home & Family and others.

Steve Hockensmith is both a New York Times bestselling author (for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls) and a Best First Novel Edgar Award nominee (for his mystery Holmes on the Range). He has two young children and lives near San Francisco.

Scott Garrett is a UK-based freelance illustrator whose clients have included Vodafone, Nestle, VW, GQ, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Business Week, Klutz Books, Faber & Faber and Random House. He lives by the sea in Hastings, East Sussex, with his family.Chapter 1

“It’s her,” Nick said. “She’s the spy.”
     “Who is?” said Tesla.
     She looked around. She and her brother were in their uncle’s backyard, about to test-fly the hoop glider they’d been working on that morning. There was only one other person in sight: a fortyish woman crouched over a bed of begonias about forty feet away. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and dirty gardening gloves. A sweat-soaked bandana was wrapped around her head.
     She didn’t look much like a spy to Tesla.
     “You mean Julie Casserly?”
     Nick nodded, eyeing the woman suspiciously.
     “I can feel it in my gut,” he said. “She’s always watching us. Always glaring.”
     “Well, of course she is. Wouldn’t you if you lived next door to Uncle Newt?”
     Nick and Tesla’s uncle was an inspired, ingenious, innovative inventor. Unfortunately, he was also a forgetful, dreamy, not-particularly-safety-minded one. Since the kids had come to stay with him a couple weeks earlier, his out-of-control creations had chewed up Julie’s flower beds, demolished one of her garden gnomes, set her lawn on fire, and splattered her car with thirty pounds of putrid bananas flambé. (Uncle Newt was convinced he could build an engine for a vacuum cleaner that ran on compost. So far, he’d only succeeded in building several extremely smelly time bombs.)
     Maybe Julie would have eventually overcome her dislike for Uncle Newt and warmed up to Nick and Tesla—maybe—but the kids were wannabe inventors themselves. They could often be found in their uncle’s backyard testing out homemade hovercrafts and balloon rockets and robots.
     And, this day, a hoop glider.
     “What is that?” Julie said when Tesla lifted the glider and prepared to send it on its first flight. She’d turned from her begonias to shoot Nick and Tesla a wary glare. “A remote-controlled spear?”
     Tesla lowered the glider. It was just a couple hoops of stiff paper, a small one in front and a larger one behind it, connected by a straw.
     “No,” said Tesla.
     “A computerized javelin?” said Julie.
     “No.”
     “A self-shooting arrow?”
     “No.”
     “Some kind of missile?”
     “No.”
     “It’s a glider,” said Nick.
     Julie narrowed her eyes. “And what’s that supposed to do?”
     “Uhh . . . glide,” said Tesla.
     Julie cocked her head, her lips twisting into a tight, sarcastic smile.
     “Oh, sure. It just glides,” she said. She pushed herself up from her knees and began walking away. “Well, let me get inside before you set it loose. I don’t want to be here when it ‘glides’ someone into the hospital.”The woman marched around the corner of her house and disappeared.
     “Not very brave for a spy,” Tesla said.
     “Maybe that’s just her cover,” Nick grumbled.
     “Anyway, go ahead. I want to see if this thing works.”
     Tesla brought the glider up again, pointed it away from Julie’s yard, and launched it with a flick of the wrist. It shot away with surprising speed and flew smoothly over Uncle Newt’s lawn, arcing to the left as it went.
     “Whoa! Look at it go!” said Nick.
     “And go and go and go,” said Tesla.
     She’d expected the glider to fly five yards, tops, yet even after twenty it was still six feet off the ground and not slowing down. In fact, it was soaring toward some trees on the other side of Uncle Newt’s property, perhaps about to fly out of the yard altogether.
     “Hey, kids!” a cheerful voice called out. “Whatcha up to?”
     It was Uncle Newt’s other neighbor, Mr. Jones, stepping out onto his patio. The paunchy, grayhaired man was wary of Uncle Newt’s inventions—which was wise—yet he always had a smile and a wave for Nick and Tesla.
     Unfortunately, it was a really bad time for a smile and a wave.
     “Mr. Jones!” Nick cried out. “Duck!”
     “A duck? Where?”
     Mr. Jones looked up into the sky.
     The glider came swooping through the trees and smacked him in the face.CN

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