Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo

by Greg Leitich Smith

Book Overview

A trio of best friends faces the trials of peers, parents, and science fair projects as they learn things about the Land of the Rising Sun, Pygocentrus nattereri, and Galileo in this hilarious read. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316778540
• ISBN13: 9780316778541
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

Science Fairs are Fun

Three friends, a private middle school and a science fair. As the school science fair approaches, seventh grader, Elias, lives in the shadow of his older brother's legendary science fair success. Eli is also dealing with his developing romantic feelings for his good friend Honoria. Honoria is determined to train piranhas to become vegetarians for her science project and she is attracted to Shohei who is totally unaware that he is the focus of her attentions. He is frustrated by his adoptive parents' intense focus on his Japanese heritage and their overreaching attempts to make sure he remains "in touch" with his cultural background. His own interest in the science fair is minimal, so, looking for an easy way out, he teams-up with Eli. His lack of effort spells disaster for their project which in turn, has terrible consequences for Elias. The story is told in the first person by three main characters. Elias, Honoria and Shohei are wonderfully voiced by the actors in this audio version. My one regret is that Recorded Books, who produced the book, did credit the performers who so perfectly caught the tone and point of view of the three characters. The story is full of humor. Smith translates that strange time that is middle school / junior high with sympathy and affection. Great fun.

Friendships change for better or worse.

The characters being only friends. That's the way it started it out. For Shohei, Honoria and Elias, their lives would soon forever change. A simple science fair, supposed to be a fun little event, starts to twist their lives into unexpected ways. The book was almost had absolutely no boring parts. The adults in the book were a phenomenal part of the raging plot. This book had all the exciting parts down to the dot of action. The parts of sorrow were as bitter as bitter could get. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves an unsuspecting turn of events at the moment of truth.

I love the quirky characters.

Elias is forced to participate in his school's science fair. Laid-back Shohei, who can best be described as a slacker, "helps" Elias (and I use that word very loosely) with his project. To understate it a bit, things do not go well. The disastrous science experiment lands Elias in school court, with Honoria acting as his defense lawyer. Honoria meanwhile has fallen in "like" --- not with the boy who likes her, but with the other one.I love the quirky characters in Greg Leitich Smith's debut novel. Not only does the story embrace intelligence and the joy of learning, it is also funny. The thought of persuading piranhas to go on a vegetarian diet made me smile. But the overly earnest attempts made by Shohei's adoptive parents to acquaint him with his Japanese heritage (and his retaliation) had me laughing out loud.I had some minor quibbles concerning believability (in particular, a plot point that uses bugs to negotiate with a teacher), but who cares? I'll willingly suspend belief any day to enjoy a zany, brainy romp such as this one. --- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)

Fun read for adult and kids alike!

My roomate's 8th grade son picked out this book from the local library, originally for his little sister in second grade. But when I started reading, I couldn't put it down. I found this book a very fun read. When I was reading, I was laughing all the time, The humor is alot like in the hitchhiker's guide, the 3 main characters reminded me the 3 muskerteers in Harry Potter, especially Honoria with Hormeone. I hope the author will do a series of book base on these 3 lively characters :)Kids into science, law or Japanese culture should find lots they can related with.Since I live in Austin, Hail! another wonderful Austin writer (if Greg do identify himself with Austin, Ha!)!

A Fabulous First Novel (both you and your kids will love)

My boyfriend and I both loved this book. As a Children's Book Buyer for an independant bookstore, I am truly happy to recommend this title to my customers. I most highly recommeded this title for Chicagoans and private school kids. The story combines all the best of romance, schoool drama, science writing and family relations. We can't wait to see where Greg goes from here. I look forward to more and you will too!