Cover Image: Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage

Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage

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Member Reviews

Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage: A Mystery with Hoverbots, Bristle Bots, and Other Robots You Can Build Yourself is the second book in the Nick and Tesla series. This is a combination mystery and science project story. Nick and Tesla are living with their Uncle Newt, an eccentric, inventor and professor. He allows them to tinker and make their own gadgets in his basement lab. In this story their friend's father finds a valuable first edition comic book at a yard sale. He plans to auction it off and make enough money to save his store and home. Before he has a chance, it is stolen and Nick and Tesla are ready to help solve the mystery.

This series a fun one. I enjoy the relationship that twins Nick and Tesla have. They are typical siblings with some bickering, disagreements and competition. They each have their strengths and work well together when trying to solve the mystery and help their friend. Uncle Newt is hilarious. He reminds me of the Nutty or Absent-Minded professor in the movies. In this book he changes a bit as he has an interest in a new character, Dr. Sakurai, who bought the local hobby shop, The Wonder Hut, where they buy all their supplies. The science activities seem like they would work fine and easy enough to do. Each robot made has a card with a list of supplies and directions to make it. I will leave that part for my son to do with his kids. There are some cute black and white illustrations in the book that add interest to the story. The mystery has a few red herrings along the way, but isn't too hard to figure out for me, but my grandson did not know who the thief was until the final showdown and reveal. This was a good story that my grandson was interested in and would be a welcome addition to a classroom, school, public or family library. I will definitely check out others in this series.

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'Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage: A Mystery with Hoverbots, Bristle Bots, and Other Robots You Can Build Yourself' by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith is both a mystery and a series of home science projects that the reader can make at home.

Nick and Tesla's parents are away on a mysterious trip, so the kids are left in the care of their eccentric uncle Newt who lives in Half Moon Bay. When a series of strange robots show up right before a series of crimes starts happening in town, the kids go looking for who could be behind it all. Armed with their brains and some robots that they build, they set out to stop the thief.

I liked this book for young readers. The science seems solid and easy enough to do. There are illustrations in the book that are pretty good. The mystery has a few red herrings along the way, but isn't too hard to figure out.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quirk Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

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