Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab (Nick and Tesla, Bk 1)

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab (Nick and Tesla, Bk 1)
reviewed on + 380 more book reviews


Summary:
Nick and Tesla are on their way to Uncle Nick's house after their parents have left to Uzbekistan on an emergency soybeans trip for the government. While they are upset no one has picked them up from the airport, they do manage to get to Uncle Nick's safely. They are met there by a seemingly empty house with a super cool lab. As they go down the lab, they find their uncle glued to the floor. Once they help him out, he allows them the full run on the lab and talks about them building a rocket while he takes a shower. The two of them set off to make and then shoot off the rocket. In the process of shooting the rocket, they encounter a mysterious house and meet two new friends. When Tesla's necklace gets caught on the rocket as it goes over the wall towards the mysterious house. How will they get it back? This leads to the group of four trying to get into the mysterious house without getting caught by two guard dogs and two bad men. There is, of course, more to this mystery, but you'll have to read to find it out.

My thoughts:
I was surprised by how good this story was. While I figured the mystery out, it wasn't until almost the end of the story. I was stumped for awhile. Also, learning about Nick, Tesla, Uncle Nick, and the two new friends was fun. The character development was surprisingly well done. I even liked the nosy, complaining neighbor. There are moments of hilarity and moments of suspense. Overall, it is a well written mystery for 3rd-6th graders.
The most charming part of this book is the integration of science into the story. The children are scientifically minded and build rockets, burglar alarms, and other distractions as they go through their mystery. The directions for each gadget is clearly written out with directions that most children can do on their own. A lot of them also use household items that most of us have laying around. While I believe the rockets definitely have some parts an adult needs to do, for the most part you just need to supervise and let them work on their own. I'm definitely getting the second book as soon as I can to see what new experiments I get to play with.