Tag: Jess Keating

REVIEW: Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray by Jess Keating

REVIEW: Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray by Jess Keating

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Nikki is a brilliant inventor, but her brilliance often leads to trouble. Like the gaping hole in the floor of her bedroom so big she can see into the first floor. How could she have known her ferret would get a hold of the death ray she was building?

Nikki’s mom has done a lot to help her genius daughter – home schooling, shielding her from reporters, and moving whenever one of her inventions destroyed something and drew unwanted attention. The world knows Nikki’s father died working on a bomb he planned to use on innocent people. Too many folks would think Nikki was following in his footsteps.

The death ray incident gets Nikki invited to Genius Academy. It’s a school for kids like Nikki, and it has the resources to protect her – and others – from her inventions. If she doesn’t go, her mom could go to jail for a long time. Nikki would do anything for her mother – even risk the bullying and angst of going to a school with other kids again. She doesn’t need to be friends with these people. She just has to stay out of trouble, for her mom’s sake.

Review

I have been looking forward to this for months! And it did not disappoint. I loved the kids at Genius Academy, and I’m eager to see where things go in the series for Nikki.

There’s a lot of great science and history stuff here. Each of the seven kids is named for a real person – Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, Mary Shelly, etc. The book also highlights a variety of types of genius which I loved!

At the core, this is a kid-spy story and a friendship story. Nikki and her peers have a quest to undertake which involves surveillance and investigation. And through all of it, Nikki is trying to maintain the walls she lives behind so no one can embarrass her, hurt her, or betray her. That behavior makes sense with her history and her fears of being vulnerable. But it’s hard to build a team when one member walls herself off. I think there’s a lot here for readers to consider and explore. Don’t miss this one! Book 2, Nikki Tesla and the Fellowship of the Bling, releases in February 2020.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Six Authors to Follow on Twitter

Posted on by Jaymie

Twitter is a fantastic resource for anyone. Love the musical Hamilton? (Me, too!) You can follow the creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda and other cast members on Twitter. Do you have a favorite soda or candy bar? The company that makes them is probably on Twitter. Having trouble with your cable service? You can probably find the company on Twitter and get a faster result than if you called the 800 number.

On Twitter, I have found teachers and authors and publishers to be a tremendous resource for me. It’s so nice to find a cyber-tribe who loves the things I love. I can tweet out to an author when I finish their amazing book. I can ask for recommendations. I can encourage other readers.

I follow a tremendous number of authors on Twitter. Some post a lot. Some post a little. If you have never used Twitter, or you’ve never thought about following an author, I have six recommendations for you to start with!

  1. Kate Messner – @katemessner. I have blogged about Kate several times. I think she is an outstanding author. She tweets about her books, about other authors, resources for teachers, etc. She also hosts a summer program for teachers called Teachers Write which is an excellent program encouraging teachers of writing to dig into the process on their own.
  2. Phil Bilder – @philbildner. Phil is a relatively new author to me. He does a great job of tweeting about book news. As a former teacher, he is a great advocate for reading and for other authors, too.
  3. Brad Meltzer – @bradmeltzer. If you don’t know who Brad is, you should check him out. I love his Ordinary People Change the World picture book series for kids. He also writes thrillers for adults and hosts Lost History on television. He’s a funny guy and his social media is always great.
  4. Jess Keating – @jess_keating. I haven’t read any of Jess’ books yet, although I had some of her middle grade books in the library when I was teaching. I met her at a conference a few years ago and she was very cool. She tweets about science, writing and reading. She also has a YouTube show called Animals for Smart People that is fun.
  5. Josh Funk – @joshfunkbooks. Josh writes picture books and I love them! They are so clever. Josh is a major reading/book advocate. I often see him promoting books of other authors/illustrators. He’s a great resource for book fanatics.
  6. Candace Fleming – @candacemfleming. Candace is a fiction and non-fiction author for kids. I’ve met her at two different conferences and she is fabulous. Check out her Twitter for information about her various projects.

This time of year, Twitter is full of political posts. I tried to steer you toward authors who post mostly about book things. Use this as a jumping off point. If you have some favorite authors, look them up on Twitter and see if they are active there or not. If you don’t care for an author’s politics, but you love their books, wait until after the election to follow them so you can get all the best tweets from them to meet your reading needs!

You can also follow The Neverending TBR blog on twitter – @Neverending_TBR. I hope you’ll come check it out.