Enginerds

Kennedy receives a robot named Greeeg on his doorstep. But excitement turns to dismay when he discovers Greeeg's insatiable appetite and bullet-like excrement. Before long, Kennedy and his fellow EngiNerds (all boys) must use engineering savvy to stop a robot horde menacing their town. Short chapters brim with scatological humor, action, and affection for all things nerdy; a cliffhanger ending indicates a sequel. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A gang of science nerds unwittingly unleashes a squadron of destructive robots and must engineer a way to save the town in Lerner's debut novel. When a mysterious box appears outside Kennedy's house, he enlists the help of best friend and fellow EngiNerd Dan to sift through the metal parts and hardware. Together, they piece together a polite but ravenous robot named Greeeg. The robot eats all the food in the houserefusing only radishesand Kennedy discovers that Greeeg is both insatiable and unmanageable. The potential for catastrophe is fully realized when Greeeg propulsively "disposes" (that's robot defecation) tiny, window-shattering, brown-black cubes. Is the robot from Grandpa K., Kennedy's hero and a former engineer? Is it coincidence that his best friend also hates radishes? Unfortunately, Kennedy isn't the only one with a robot problem. Eighteen bullet-farting robots storm town, and the EngiNerds must band together and use ingenuity to prevent the robots from consuming and destroying everything in their wake. Sci-fi readers will enjoy the science and tinkering, but dangerous excreta is pure schoolboy horseplay. The story includes clever duct-tape solutions, the construction of catapults from disposable chopsticks, and a good, old-fashioned water fight in this action-packed celebration of nerd culture. The absence of ethnic markers implies that Kennedy is white, but the surnames of the EngiNerds suggest a diverse assemblage. A boisterous balance of potty humor and geek pride in this rollicking young engineer's adventure, the first of two. (Science fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

EngiNerds 1. THERE'S A BOX ON MY front porch. It's big. Brown. Smooshed in at the corners and bruised along the sides. It's for me. How do I know? Somebody wrote KENNEDY in thick black marker on the box's top. Normally, I'd assume a random box on my front porch was from my grandpa. But this isn't my grandpa's handwriting. His is neat and clean, and this person's? It's a mess. The only thing I can think is that maybe my grandpa disguised his handwriting. Maybe the surprise of what's inside is so good that he didn't want me to know it was from him at first. I start to wonder what the old guy might be up to--but then I remember that there's a big box on my porch with my name scrawled on top of it. In other words: I'm too flipping excited to stand here and think about anything else. I want to open it up. I want to open it up NOW. So I lug the box inside. Excerpted from EngiNerds by Jarrett Lerner All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.