Another great middle-grade funny from Paul Tobin that will appeal to both boys and girls. This could be easily used for class discussion and writing prompts.

Recommended for ages 7-11

What a fun and out there read this was, with six grader genius Nate Bannister you learn to expect the unexpected. Continual craziness, fun and imaginative adventures. With robotic bees, scientific challenges, and the worries of Nate as he tries to outsmart his nemesis, The Red Death Tea Society.

This book is fantastic for any child that has an interest in inventions, science and a funny, fast paced read.

Oh dear. I really quite liked the first in this series, but this sophomore effort is just tiresome. It will probably be fine for the intended audience, but I found it quite lame – the narrating heroine just thumps Nate all the time and gets annoying with nothing much to do, and her vocal delivery is jam-packed with so much pointless quipping verbiage the book feels far too long and light-weight, and is on one sugar-rush note throughout. Ditched on p81, after yet another needling bit of antagonism from our girl, and with nothing much for the reader to react to, except point out things obviously ignored by the story for plot sake, such as the bee in the hair, and the third stupid thing Nate had done.