Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab: A Mystery with Electromagnets, Burglar Alarms, and Other Gadgets You Can Build Yourself

By Science Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith

Nick and Tesla are bright 11-year-old siblings with a knack for science, electronics, and getting into trouble. When their parents mysteriously vanish, they’re sent to live with their Uncle Newt, a brilliant inventor who engineers top-secret gadgets for a classified government agency. It’s not long before Nick and Tesla are embarking on adventures of their own—engineering all kinds of outrageous MacGyverish contraptions to save their skin: 9-volt burglar alarms, electromagnets, mobile tracking devices, and more. Readers are invited to join in the fun as each story contains instructions and blueprints for five different projects.

In Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab, we meet the characters and learn how to make everything from rocket launchers to soda-powered vehicles. Learning about science has never been so dangerous—or so much fun!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quirk Books
• Release date: Nov 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781594746628

Science Bob Pflugfelder

“Science Bob” Pflugfelder teaches elementary school science in Newton, Massachusetts.

Book preview

Someone climbed into Joe Devlin’s cab, and he put down his newspaper and looked in the rearview mirror and started to say Where to?

He froze.

Sitting behind him were a boy and a girl with sad, serious expressions on their faces. They looked like they were eleven or twelve years old.

There were no adults in sight.

Two kids getting into a taxi, alone, outside San Francisco International Airport?

Trouble, Joe’s gut said.

The boy looked down at a letter he was holding.

Five-thirteen Chesterfield Avenue, he said.

Joe could hear the paper rustling as he spoke. The boy’s hands were shaking.

In Half Moon Bay, the girl said, her voice firm, resolute. That’s near here, right?

Joe turned around to squint at his would-be passengers. They were dressed like any other kids—T-shirts, jeans, sneakers—yet they seemed subdued and grave in a way that didn’t fit their ages. All they had with them were the letter and two small, black suitcases and a book each.

The boy was holding something called A Brief History of Time. The girl had Theory of Applied Robotics: Kinematics, Dynamics, and Control.

You’re not running away, are you? Joe said. Where are your parents?

No, we’re not runaways, the girl said. Our parents are … well …

They’re in Uzbekistan, said the boy.

Joe blinked.

Uzbekistan? he said.

The boy nodded. Watching soybeans grow.

Well, the girl said, it’s a little more complicated than that.

Oh, said Joe. Oooooookay.

We’ve been sent to live with our uncle for the summer, the boy said. He was supposed to meet us here, but he didn’t show up.

Joe stared at the kids a moment, trying to decide if he believed them. Even if he did, they still looked like trouble. And Joe didn’t like trouble.

The girl stuffed a hand into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a wad of wrinkled bills.

We have ninety-three dollars, she said.

The boy reached into his pocket, too. And fifty-eight cents. That’s enough, right?

Absolutely, Joe said.

He turned around and started the engine. And the meter.

Joe didn’t like trouble. But he did like money.

Every so often, Joe stole a peek at the kids in the rearview mirror. The girl was watching the rolling Northern California hills slide by. The boy was toying with a silver pendant he wore on a chain around his neck. It was shaped like a star.

Stop that, the girl said when she noticed what her brother was doing. You might break it.

Break what? I still haven’t even figured out what it is.

It’s jewelry, that’s all. A keepsake from Mom and Dad.

Since when have Mom and Dad been into keepsakes?

The girl shrugged.

The boy started picking at the pendant again.

Anyway, he muttered, I don’t wear jewelry.

The girl went back to staring out the window.

After a moment, though, she pulled out an identical pendant hanging around her neck and began rubbing it absentmindedly.

About twenty yards behind her, Joe noticed, was a big, black SUV that had been following them for miles. It was probably just a coincidence that it had stayed with them as they went from the airport to 101 South to 92 West. But then again, if Trouble had to drive, wouldn’t it drive a big, black SUV?

Joe gave his cab a little more gas.

Joe made the winding drive down to Half Moon Bay at least once a week. Though it was just a speck of a city, it was perfectly situated—nestled on the coast at the edge of a long stretch of lush, hilly forest—and had built up a healthy tourist trade. The town itself was quiet and quaint and cute. And boring, but the tourists didn’t seem to mind.

Five-thirteen Chesterfield Avenue was in a nice neighborhood not far from the ocean. The house looked a little shabby, though. The paint was more faded, the driveway more cracked, the yard more choked with weeds than any of its neighbors. Even the mailbox was dented and scorched on one side.

As Joe’s cab slowed to a stop out front, a lawn mower was going around and around in the yard. No one was going around and around behind it, though. It looked like a ghost was mowing the lawn.

Rope ran from the mower to a metal pole in the middle of the yard. The end of the rope was wrapped around the top of the pole in a coil. As the mower moved, the rope unraveled itself, slowly feeding more slack to the mower so it could go in bigger and bigger circles.

It was a self-mowing lawn.

Cool, said the girl.

Uhh, said the boy.

He pointed to the pole. The more the mower tugged on it, the more it tilted to the side.

Oh, said the girl.

The pole sagged, then fell over completely, and the mower rumbled off-course into a neighboring yard. It chewed through row after row of beautifully manicured flowers before rolling over a garden gnome, getting snagged, and—with a screech and a pop and a puff of black smoke—bursting into flames.

Well, the girl said, "cool idea."

Sixty-five dollars, Joe said.

The girl counted out the money.

And we’re supposed to tip you, right? the boy said.

Don’t worry about it, said Joe. His conscience was yelling at him not to abandon a couple of kids outside a run-down house with an exploding lawn mower. He needed to leave quick or he might actually listen.

He glanced at the kids in his rearview mirror as he sped away. They were kneeling beside the fallen pole examining the rope. They looked like they wanted to put the pole back up, find another mower, and try again.

A little farther down the street, Joe could see the black SUV he’d noticed behind them on the highway. A shadowy figure sat behind the wheel. Whoever it was, he or she seemed to be watching the kids.

Joe’s gut had been right about those two. They were trouble. Weird trouble.

As he drove away, fast, Joe made a promise to himself that he planned to keep the next time he was at the airport.

From now on, middle-aged tourists only. Middle-aged tourists only. Middle-aged tourists only.…

At least we know Uncle Newt’s around here somewhere, Tesla said.

How do we know that? asked her brother Nick.

Tesla nodded at the lawn mower. Who do you think started that?

That doesn’t prove anything, Nick said. If you could rig it to mow by itself, you could rig it to start itself, too.

True. Want to go check for a timer?

The lawn mower wasn’t burning anymore, but the engine still sizzled and smoldered ominously.

Maybe later, Nick said.

All right then.

Tesla picked up her suitcase and started toward the house. She’d taken it upon herself to be the leader lately. She was the elder sibling, after all.

She’d been born twelve minutes before her twin brother.

Nick got his own suitcase and followed her onto the porch.

Tesla started to reach for the doorbell. It chimed when her finger was still two feet from the button.

Hey, Tesla said, looking around the porch.

Nick looked, too.

Motion detector? he said.

Could be.

Tesla was standing on a welcome mat. Printed on it were the words IF YOU’RE SELLING GIRL SCOUT COOKIES, I’M NOT HOME.

Tesla noticed a wire running from the mat to the door frame. She stepped off the mat, then back on.

The doorbell chimed again.

Pressure sensor, Nick said. Nice.

Yeah. Only, if Uncle Newt’s so smart, how come he wasn’t at the airport?

Mom and Dad always said he was a little … off. Maybe he just forgot.

Forgot that his niece and nephew were coming today to live with him?

Nick gave his sister a sad, weary shrug.

Their summer was off to a pretty lousy start. Two days out of school and bang—their trip to Disneyland is canceled, their scientist parents tell them they have to rush to Central Asia to observe dramatic new soybean irrigation techniques, and they’re shipped off to live with the reclusive uncle no one else in the family can talk about without smirking or shivering.

Fun in the sun it was not.

Tesla sighed.

We’re not here to sell you Girl Scout cookies! she called out.

Still no one came to the door.

Tesla reached for the knob. The door wasn’t locked.

Tesla opened it.

Are you sure you should do that? Nick said.

Why not? Tesla stepped inside. This is supposedly our house now, too. For the next three months anyway.

But … what if Uncle Newt has, like, a vicious attack dog?

Then it would’ve started barking the second the doorbell rang.

Oh. Right.

Tesla moved deeper into the darkness of the house.

Nick stayed on the porch.

What in the—? My begonias! he heard someone say behind him.

Nick looked over his shoulder.

A small but muscular woman in sweaty workout clothes was stepping out of a big shiny car in the neighbor’s driveway. She was gaping in horror at the chewed-up flowerbed and the smoking lawn mower.

Scowling, she turned toward Uncle Newt’s house. And the scowl didn’t go away when she noticed Nick looking back at her. In fact, it got scowlier.

Nick smiled weakly, waved, and hurried into the house. He closed the door behind him.

Whoa, he said when his eyes adjusted to the gloom inside.

Cluttering the long hall in front of him were dozens of old computers, a telescope, a metal detector connected to a pair of bulky earphones, an old-fashioned diving suit complete with brass helmet, a stuffed polar bear (the real, dead kind), a chainsaw, something that looked like a flamethrower (but couldn’t be … right?), a box marked KEEP REFRIGERATED, another marked THIS END UP (upside down), and a fully lit Christmas tree decorated with ornaments made from broken beakers and test tubes (it was June). Exposed wires and power cables poked out of the plaster and veered off around every corner, and there were so many diplomas and science prizes and patents hanging (all of them earned by Newton Galileo Holt, a.k.a. Uncle Newt) that barely an inch of wall was left uncovered.

Off to the left was a living room lined with enough books to put some libraries to shame, a semitransparent couch made of inflated plastic bags, and a wide-screen TV connected by frayed cords to a small trampoline. The ceiling over the trampoline was cracked and cratered, as if someone kept bouncing a little too high. A dented football helmet was lying nearby on the floor.

To Nick’s right was a dining room with a conveyor belt running to the kitchen, a gas grill built into the middle of the table, and straps and buckles hanging from the ceiling, instead of

[vaterolsen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the techniques the kids in this book use to stop the "bad guys" is pretending to fall on a bicycle in front of a moving vehicle. I usually don't worry about people taking what they read too seriously, but in this case I do. This "solution" may appeal to some 10 year old readers.

[sgrame_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

11 year old twins Nick and Tesla must spend the summer with their eccentric Uncle Newt. This loving inventor opens his lab to the children and as mysteries start piling up, they make use of his equipment to make some pretty interesting gadgets. Diagrammed instructions are included for many of these. The team meet some other kids in the neighborhood who help them to solve mysteries such as the pale girl in the window of a creepy, "haunted" house, the black SUV that is following the kids and the 'break-in" of Uncle Newt's house. A great way to get students interested in science! Warnings are included for contraptions that could cause harm. Recommended for grades 4-7, although the story line alone could hold interest for a grade or two younger.

[rsps_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fun story for kids. Nick and Tesla use science to uncover a mystery in their Uncle's neighborhood. The directions that are included so kids can try some of the projects are home are a plus.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While this progresses in a logical linear order (at least for an MG book), it seems a little confused as to what it wants to be, other than a story that adds in science experiments.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book in a middle grade series especially for kids who like science and mysteries. The main characters, Nick and Tesla (11 year old twins) are sent to their Uncle Newt for the summer because their scientist parents were sent out of the country. To say they are unhappy is an understatement. It is summer vacation and they had many things they were looking forward to. Their Uncle Newt happens to be an eccentric mad scientist, who gives them free reign in his lab. When they build a rocket that they lose in the yard of an old, rundown mansion, their adventure begins. The yard is guarded by two vicious dogs, they spy a mysterious girl on the top floor of the mansion who warns them to stay away, and they are being followed by a black SUV. They have their brains, two new friends and their uncle's old junk to solve their problems.

I love the step-by-step directions for making the gadgets used in the book. They were simple, yet helped to solve the mystery. There were some twists, but the mystery was not the most compelling.
A great addition to a school or class library. Parents and their children would enjoy making the gadgets together.I think this will be fun series for those budding scientists out there and I am looking forward to picking up the next one.

[bogreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the techniques the kids in this book use to stop the "bad guys" is pretending to fall on a bicycle in front of a moving vehicle. I usually don't worry about people taking what they read too seriously, but in this case I do. This "solution" may appeal to some 10 year old readers.

[gaby317 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab
by Science Bob Pfugfelder and Steve Hockensmith
Age Range: 9 - 12 years
Grade Level: 4 - 7
Series: Nick and Tesla (Book 1)
ISBN-10: 1594746486 - Hardcover $12.95
Publisher: Quirk Books (November 5, 2013), 240 pages.
Review copy courtesy of Quirk Books.

Eleven-year old twins Nick and Tesla were looking forward to a trip to Disneyland with their parents but a work emergency (soybean irrigation issues in Uzbekistan in the far reaches of the former Soviet Union) forces them to stay with their scientist and absentminded uncle Newt. They arrive at Half Moon Bay, California to find a suburban house with a self mowing lawn. The inside of the house is just as strange: full of inventions in different stages of development, various lab equipment, a Christmas tree, a polar bear, and strange food combinations. Their Uncle Newt is sprawled on the floor, made immobile by strange orange foam. The judicious use of a specific purple spray destroys the sticky bond of the orange substance - and the twins are welcomed.

Nicke and Telsa find unprecedented personal freedom which they exploit fully. It starts innocently enough - with the low-tech bottle launcher that they make one afternoon. Science Bob includes instructions on how to make the bottle launcher, so it's possible for readers to try the experiment on their own - with adult supervision.

The rocket launcher leads Nick and Tesla to the abandoned large estate at the end of their block where they find a mysterious young girl in an upstairs window, protected by a pack of frighteningly angry dogs and suspicious characters.

Nick, Tesla and their young neighbors decide to investigate further but they don't do it like regular kids. Their special interests and skills lead them to make and to teach us how to make a mints-and-soda robocat dog distractor. Remember the YouTube videos of menthos and coke explosions? Nick and Tesla take the idea behind those explosions and put it to good use. Science Bob, Nick and Tesla incorporate science and engineering in coming up with solutions and they do so in ways that make science fun. Think of Invisible ink trackers and electromagnetic answers to locked doors and home alarm systems.

The science and experiments are tools to help Nick and Tesla solve problems, save a young girl and make sense of the strange goings on in their new neighborhood. Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab is an unusual adventure story that introduces us to fun new detective heroes.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nick and Tesla are brother and sister. Their parents have gone to Uzebkistan. They have sent Nick and Tesla to stay with their uncle for the summer. When they arrive they find their uncle covered in orange goo. He is a scientist. He tells Nick and Tesla that they are welcome to use his lab.

When Nick and Tesla go investigating the neighborhood, they find that they will have to get creative building gadgets to save themselves from mean dogs and bad guys. Think the movie Home Alone.

This book is a keeper. I read this book in 1 day. This book kind of reminded me of the choose your own adventure books. Not that this is one of those books but the fact that you can build some of the gadgets that Nick and Tesla use in the book makes it very interactive. You just may want to purchase two copies of this book. 1 to keep and 1 to give as a present. Besides you will want to keep a copy so that you can build all the cool gadgets. You know you will build them. This book brings back the little child inside of all of us. I can not wait to read the next adventure that Nick and Tesla find themselves in.

[rena613 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book as rated by my 11 yr old son. Great mystery and great gadgets. He loves science and inventions, so this book really appealed to him.

[ginerbia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eleven year old twin brother and sister, Nick and Tesla, are sent to live with their crazy Uncle Newt while their parents are off on an agricultural mission on the other side of the world. The children know that they are in for an "interesting" time when they realize that their Uncle Newt forgot to pick them up from the airport. After taking a taxi to Uncle Newts house, the children are greeted with a remote-controlled lawnmower that has gotten out of control and has mowed over the neighbor's flower gardens. They proceed into the house and find out why Uncle Newt wasn't at the airport to pick them up... He was glued securely to the floor of his laboratory.

As the story progresses there are hints that make the twins start thinking that their parents are more than agricultural scientists but there is another mystery unfolding right in the neighborhood that grab their attention. Why are there big, mean dogs at the vacant house? Who is the girl in the window? Why is that black SUV following them?

What sets this story apart from other young reader mysteries is that this one includes science! Newt's laboratory has a massive inventory of all sorts of pieces and parts to spark the imaginations of Nick and Tesla and they have been given permission to explore to their hearts content. During the story, they build a rocket, a dog distractor, a tracking device and more. Not only do they build them, but the book includes step-by-step instructions on how to build them yourself!

This book and the included science experiments would be great for 4th-6th grade aged kids who like mysteries and or science! Even though I didn't try the science experiments, it was still a quick, fun read for the um, ahem, older generations as well!

[stined_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As an adult, I could say a lot of things about this book. I could talk about how it could appeal to those who like mysteries or to the ones that like heroines. I could mention the science in the book. But maybe it would be better to make it simple and use the words of a 13 year old girl who read the book in one afternoon. She said "It's a really good book. I like it." That sums it up well.

[jessidee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm obviously not the target audience for this series, but I did enjoy it. The projects range in complexity (a few require adult supervision or assistance with power tools), but they didn't feel gimmicky or shoe-horned-in, which was one concern I had before reading. The characters are well-rounded and likeable: Nick and Tesla are both intelligent, but have distinct personalities that have nothing to do with being twins named for a respected inventor. Their uncle, Newt, stays just this side of "Mad Scientist" caricature by attempting to (and somewhat succeeding at?) being a Responsible Caregiver. The plot is a pretty standard mystery story, but even I didn't figure it out until the end. The only quibble I have is that this is obviously the first book in a series because it leaves you with so many questions about Nick and Tesla's parents. I'm not sure if I'll continue to read the series personally, but I'll recommend it to younger readers without hesitation.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Free LibraryThing Early Reviewer book. My 6-year-old daughter didn't stick with it, but my 8-year old son gave it two thumbs up. He liked the suspense and the inclusion of experiments that he could do himself, or at least dream of doing himself.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This scientific mystery begins when Nick and Tesla arrive at the eccentric Uncle Newt's home. Their parents have been call to Uzbekistan to study irrigation techniques on soybeans. They work for the US Department of Agriculture. The eleven-year-old twins are supposed to spend the summer with their uncle.

Their uncle starts things off by forgetting to pick them up at the airport. They take a taxi to his home and find him glued to the floor of his lab. One of his inventions isn't working quite as he expected! The kids are left pretty much on their own and their uncle gives them free reign in his lab though he does tell them areas to avoid.

Tesla is the more adventurous of the twins and Nick is the more cautious one. However, each support the other no matter what they are doing. They first decide to build a rocket. The step-by-step directions are included in the book. When they launch the rocket, it goes into a spooky neighbor's house taking a locket their parents gave Tesla with it. Determined to get it back, they run into mysterious and unfriendly "remodelers," fierce rottweilers, and a mysterious young girl in an upstairs room.

They recruit a couple of the neighborhood kids to help them with their plans to outwit the "remodelers" and rescue the girl. They need some more inventions including an alarm system made with a Christmas tree light, a battery, wire and a couple of quarters and a tracking system using a highlighter and a black light. Directions for both of those inventions are included too.

The story is exciting and suspenseful. Adding to the mystery is the black SUV that seems to be following the kids wherever they go. When the driver comes to their rescue, she raises more questions than she answers. Nick and Tesla really begin to wonder if their parents really are scientists working for the Department of Agriculture...or are they spies?

We will need to read book 2 - Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage - to learn more about the bigger story. While waiting, young scientists can visit NickandTesla.com for instructions to build more gadgets, videos of science experiments, author interviews, and other cool stuff.

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got a copy of this book to review through Quirk books in enchange for an honest review. This was a fun middle grade adventure/mystery that I enjoyed reading.

This book is about Nick and Tesla, two twins who end up moving in with their mad scientist uncle when their parents are out of town for the summer on work. At their Uncle's house they accidentally shoot a rocket into the yard of a mansion. When they go to retrieve it they find out that the house is closely guarded and that there is a strange sad girl looking out the 2nd story window of the house.

They decide to investigate and find a way both into the house and to talk to the girl. Of course to do this they will have to come up with some crazy inventions to help.

Interspersed throughout the book are small inventions that kids can do at home. All but maybe one of these inventions require quite a bit of stuff that you won't have at home and they also require adult assistance to do. The only one that doesn't is the door alarm. The door alarm uses batteries, quarters, nails. However you do need to bend a nail, which again will require help from an adult.

Based on the above I would buy this book for the story, not the experiments/devices you can build. I am not sure why the author didn't make some of the things easier...for example why not have instructions for building a stomp rocket instead of a pressured rocket system that takes a whole bunch of PVC and drilling?

Nick and Tesla are characters that are easy to engage with and relate to. Their Uncle is pretty “absent minded crazy scientist like”, but he obviously loves them and enjoys having them around.

The plot is straight-forward but well done. I enjoyed reading about the different ways Nick and Tesla try and get done what they need to get done. It’s a great book because it has a boy and a girl in it and they both do science stuff; so I think both girls and boys will enjoy this book equally.

The story was well done and engaging and I enjoyed it. It would be a fun read for boys and girls alike. It's a quick read and well written.

Overall a fun middle grade read with the twist of having things you can build at home yourself in here. I enjoyed the story and characters and thought they were well done. It’s a good book to promote thinking for yourself and science and it’s very funny at parts so kids (and adults) will enjoy it. My only complaint is that most of the devices will not be things kids can build for themselves; some of them are rather complicated and require things you might not have at home.

I would buy this for the fun story but probably not for the device-building ideas. There are better books out there for that. Still it’s a neat idea and I plan on reading more books in this series in the future. Recommended to fans of middle grade mystery, spy books, and adventure books.

[franuary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I couldn't have been more thrilled with the book. This is a high energy middle grade mystery that would appeal to both boys and girls. While the book is perfectly suited for children with an interest in science, I feel that the attractive cover would also draw in readers who were not science enthusiasts, perhaps converting them to science lovers.

I am a children's librarian, and our 2014 summer reading theme is science based. I enjoyed this book so much, I'm already thinking about how to base a program around it next year!

[yolana_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab
“Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith
Quirk Books

I realize that we are just into fall but already I wish it were summer again. This is the book for your elementary school aged summer to read in the summer. We have mystery, adventure, and ingenuity all mixed up in a book which also gives the reader great instructions for DIY science projects. I loved it and my children want to do some of the projects in it.

[aethercowboy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab, we are introduced to Nick and his twin sister Tesla, who, as their parents, government scientists, must inexplicably study soybeans in Uzbekistan, have found themselves in the care of their eccentric uncle Newt.

The book is part adventure, part mystery, and part science experiment, complete with actual devices you (and possibly your child) can build. This separates this book from other books targeted at the 9-12 demographic, giving kids more to do once the book is done, aside from waiting for the next book or playing Pokemon.

I enjoyed this book, and I'm sure that if you like adventurous and mysterious children's fiction, especially that with an educational slant towards STEM, then you'll find this book enjoyable too.

[brookvillej · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nick and Tesla's High Voltage Danger Lab is a great read for any middle-schooler who is into science. The fast pace and funny details will have them sticking with the story, and the easy-to-engineer science projects throughout the book will have them scavenging the house for supplies so they can build their own. A bit off the wall and over the top, but it only adds to the humor and fun. Overall, a fast, fun read for boys and girls alike.

[jugglingpaynes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab" is written by "Science Bob" Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith, the author of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." The story is about Nick and Tesla, science loving twins, who are sent to Half Moon Bay, California to stay with their Uncle Newt for the summer while their parents study soybeans in Uzbekistan. Their uncle is your typical absent-minded professor, inventing and blowing up experiments in his basement lab. He lets the kids use the lab for their own inventions, as long as they stay away from anything dangerous.

I loved the story. I enjoyed how the kids used logic, how they solved problems by creating devices, and how the book shares instructions for building these devices, such as an intruder alert system and an electromagnet. I like that the kids and their friends don't try to solve everything on their own, but look to the adults for guidance when things get really dangerous. Much healthier than most kid adventure books where the child is resigned to figuring things out on their own because they don't think the grown-ups will understand. There is a lot packed into this book: a good story with mystery and suspense that will even interest the parents and activities to try out together. I would definitely recommend this book to friends in our homeschooling community.

[kiesa-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

_Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab_, by "Science Bob" Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith, is a nice combination of juvenile mystery and science project. The two main protagonists in the book are Nick and Tesla, twins who have been shipped off to live with their uncle while their parents deal with a soybean emergency in Uzbekistan. Uncle Newt is a stereotypical absent-minded scientist who takes a benign interest in the children but doesn't know how to take care of kids. Nick and Tesla are given free reign to tinker in Uncle Newt's basement laboratory. They start creating gadgets first to amuse themselves and then to help solve the mystery of the Old Landrigan Place.

This was an amusing book to read to my son. I also like that it portrays Tesla, a girl, as interested in science and technology as her brother. In addition to the story, the book also contains instructions on how to build the gadgets that Nick and Tesla create. We didn't try any of them but the parts list and directions appear fairly straight-forward.

Overall, both my son and I enjoyed reading about the twins and their problem-solving approach to unusual circumstances.

I requested, and received, this book through LibraryThing's Earlier Reviewer program.

[thelittlebookworm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Little Bookworm

Quirk Books sent this one for review and I thought it would be a fun book to read with my 6 year old son. We have just got into chapter books and I was looking for one to engage him with. This turned out to be a good choice. He really liked it and asked to read the science book at night. Some of the chapters are longer so I would break them into two parts but mostly we read a chapter a night. This might be one of the longer books we've read together. He is really excited to read the second book which Quirk Books also sent to me for review.

We both enjoyed the story and I like how the science and inventions really helped them out. The twins are as clever as their names and they were good characters. Plus it is a mystery which I always like. My son liked the dogs, Jaws and Claws, for some reason. He thought they were hilarious. I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to try out a few of the inventions. Because that is another cool thing. The plans and instructions for the things Nick and Tesla invent are included in the book. And it is nothing too complicated and something that would be fun for a kid and parent to do together.

[ljldml · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a fantastic book for a budding scientist! The combination of suspenseful story, eccentric uncle and science projects can't be beat! With twins Nick and Tesla (boy and girl) this book will appeal to both boys and girls. By the way, loved the robocat!

[sylliu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quick read, Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab is a fun middle-grade book about a brother and a sister sent off to live with their mad scientist uncle for a summer. Basically left to their own devices, they end up investigating a mysterious abandoned house and end up foiling a kidnapping. In getting into and out of their scrapes, these science-minded kids concoct homemade rockets, burglar alarms, robot cats, and other gadgets and experiments.

The fun part of the book is that the reader is invited to do the same experiments with common household objects, and under adult supervision.

Sometimes the story felt a little one-dimensional. The plot was interesting but there wasn't much character development in the main characters or their two friends. Another disappointment was that the book felt a bit too safe. Part of the allure of the story is the crazy high jinks and adventures the kids have while unsupervised, but a responsible adult presence is always around the corner (the nagging moms, the cops that get called, the agent that saves the day).

[ljbryant_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For the target age-group (middle school age), this book is a total winner. As an adult, I even enjoyed it -- the story was engaging, and the main characters were well written, smart, and interesting. The 'experiments' in the book were a nice bonus. My 10 and 13 year old girls give this book four thumbs up. We all look forward to reading the next installment.

[mclane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent mystery for middle-schoolers, both boys and girls. Ten year old twins Nick and Tesla are sent to stay in California with their eccentric Uncle Newt, when their parents supposedly travel to Uzbekistan! They become involved with neighborhood mysteries, including a strange girl they glimpse in an apparently abandoned old house. Nick and Tesla use their amazing scientific minds to create devises to help them solve the mysteries. An interesting addition to the book are directions to create the devises that Nick and Tesla create in the book (bottle rockets, intruder alerts, etc.). Because these experiments involve electricity and quasi-explosive devises, I think they should only be attempted with adult supervision. But overall, I recommend this book for kids interested in mysteries and/or science.

[jenritchie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My kids, aged 8 - 14 enjoyed this - interesting to look at and read over a couple of times already. Look forward to another one.

[cherierj_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was about Nick and Tesla, whose parents went away to study giant lima beans. Since they decide to do this Nick and Tesla had to go stay at their Uncle Newt's house. My 10 year old son enjoyed reading this book very much. His favorite part was when they find a girl character in the book and they try to break out of the room they were locked in. He found this part of the book exciting. He liked some of the inventions included in the book. He also thought Nick and Tesla were fun characters. We appreciate the opportunity for him to read this book for free thanks to the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Giveaway.

[madhatr-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun read. If anyone has a child who is interested in science and or science experiments, this book would be very engaging. I did not attempt any of the science experiments while reading the book but a couple of them were very similar to one that I have done before. The two characters, Nick and Tesla, are easy to imagine having as friends, or in my case as a children's minister, being in my ministry. I would and have recommended this book to parents.

[fremdeb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thoroughly enjoyable mystery with enough experiment ideas to keep kids busy during the summer and into the school year. I'm glad to know this is the first in a series and I look forward to reading the upcoming titles.