This is the funniest book I've read in a long time. Eighth-grader Toby Harbinger needs money desperately. He has sold his parents' authentic Star Wars blaster on Ebay, and now the buyer wants his money back. Toby's plan is to win the $5,000 prize at the Hubble Middle School annual science fair. Little does he know, however, that Grdankl the Strong has sent an agent to Maryland to bring down the United States of America. He plans to do this by taking over the science fair at Hubble Middle School.
Throw in the wacky parents who have a basement full of Star Wars gadgetry and the snotty kids of Manor Estates whose parents are all buying their science fair projects, and you have a whirlwind of a story. If you need a classroom read-aloud, this is it. This is all you could want for a humorous book for children. We want more!
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Five large hairy men are gathered around a government computer in a bunker under the presidential palace in the city of Krpsht in the Republic of Krpshtskan.
The president, Grdankl the Strong, and his four vice presidents are watching the monitor as Vrsk slowly brings the United States into focus zooming first into Washington D.C. and then to a public school in a Maryland suburb just outside the Nation's Capital.
"You are sure?" "This is the place?" "I am sure." "It is very close to the American government." "What is this place?" "It is a school. A public school - Hubble Middle School." The five men have hatched a plan or at least one of them has and "the beauty of it is if Prmkt's plan works the mightiest nation on Earth will be brought to its knees by its children."
In the midst of this international intrigue walks Toby Harbinger who has guiltily sold his parents' treasured Star Wars Blaster on ebay to get the money to buy a decent game playing computer and his two middle school friends, Micah and Tamara. The three of them are determined to win the Hubble Middle School Science Fair to get the $5,000 prize given each year by a stunningly successful alumni.
The Hubble Science Fair is the playground of the rich kids who live in Manor Estates...think McMansion on steroids. Do these MEs do their own science projects? Toby, Micah and Tamara stumble onto the truth while the agents from KRPSHT are holed up in a shady motel with newly authorized credit cards and a hypnotic fascination with the Home Shopping Network. Why buy just one set of tiki torches when you can have two?
The FBI, the CIA and fourteen other agencies responding to orders from the Department of Defense are on the case. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson probably need 24 hour surveillance. Clearly, left to their own devices they run completely off the charts delivering one hysterical moment after another. Fantastic!!
978-1423113249 394 hysterically funny pages Ages 9-13
Recommended by: Barb, abookandahug.com
