Friday, October 17, 2014

MG Review: Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage: A Mystery with Hoverbots, Bristle Bots, and Other Robots You Can Build Yourself

17884063Robot Army Rampage is the second book in the Nick and Tesla series.  11-year-old Nick and Tesla's parents are in Uzbekistan under special orders from the government to study soybean irrigation.  In the mean time, they have been staying with their scientist loving, Uncle Newt in the town of Half Moon Bay in California.  Nick and Tesla easily fit in with Uncle Newt in the laboratory, often completing science experiments side by side.  In Robot Army Rampage, Nick and Tesla's friend Silas has an emergency.  Silas's dad has had a rare mint condition comic book that has gone missing from his shop. The family was planning on using the proceeds from its sale to save the business.  Silas and DeMarco think that Nick and Tesla will be able to help find the comic book, but then a series of robberies occurs that rattles the town.  Nick and Tesla pair up with their friends to try and solve the mystery of who is behind the robberies and get back the comic book in time to save Silas's family from losing everything they have.



Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage was written by Pflugfelder and Hockensmith.   An award-winning elementary school science teacher and an author of a series of mystery books.  Using their backgrounds in science and mystery writing, they have developed a story that will inspire children to explore and create using text to real life projects.   Included within the body of the book are full page "blueprints" with directions and illustrations that show how to take things found at home or a local hobby store to construct a Wander bot, a Bottle bot and even a Robo-roach.   Robot Army Rampage provides  a nice mix of science, a mystery to solve and construction projects that are likely to intrigue nine to twelve year old's. 

I received an uncorrected review copy from the publisher for free via Edelweiss for consideration for the 2014 Cybils award in Middle Grade Fiction.  

No comments:

Post a Comment