Science Fair

By Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Book Overview

Grdankl the Strong, president of Kprshtskan, is plotting to take over the American government. His plan is to infiltrate the science fair at Hubble Middle School, located in a Maryland suburb just outside Washington. The rich kids at Hubble cheat by buying their projects every year, and Grdankl's cronies should have no problem selling them his government-corrupting software. But this year, Toby Harbinger, a regular kid with Discount Warehouse shoes, is determined to win the $5,000 prize-even if he has to go up against terrorists to do it. With the help of his best friends, Tamara and Micah, Toby takes on Assistant Principal Paul Parmit, aka "The Armpit," a laser-eyed stuffed owl, and two eBay buyers named Darth and the Wookiee who seem to think that the Harrison-Ford-signed BlasTech DL-44 blaster Toby sold them is a counterfeit. What transpires is a hilarious adventure filled with mystery, suspense, and levitating frogs.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1423113241
• ISBN13: 9781423113249
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 1.0" x 1.0"
• Age Range: 10 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 6

Customer Reviews

Hilarious - I loved it!

I previously enjoyed the first two novels of the Peter and the Starcatchers series that Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry wrote, but I found Science Fair to be hilarious. Science Fair is set in a middle school in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC. Toby, the main character, is enrolled in the school's gifted program, along with other gifted students and others whose rich, powerful parents have bought their way in. The rich parents are obsessed with their kids' success to the point that they do the work for their kids. For example, one mother was said to have worked hard for all of her son's grades, starting with the professionally bound animal report he turned in in first grade. Each year, the school conducts a science fair with a large corporate-sponsored prize. One of the rich kids always wins, because they purchase complicated projects from a strange store in the mall. However, there is a problem - Grdankl the Strong, the leader of the rogue nation of Krpshtskan, has enlisted an operative to rig the science fair so that the rich kids' projects can be utilized for a terrorist plot. Toby finds out about this, and he and his friends have to fix things. The plot and the details of Science Fair are absurd and over the top, but that is why I enjoyed it so much. Barry describes Krpshtskan in a way similar to the fictional Kazakhstan in Borat, with details like the national holiday for the tournament of the fighting death hamsters and Grdankl's slogan of "Vote for Grdankl or die." Another episode I found amusing was when two of Grdankl's operatives who were sent unwillingly to the U.S. to straighten out problems became addicted to the Home Shopping Network. Science Fair is a book that definitely would appeal to kids, with its mix of humor and action. In fact, I loaned it to one of my sixth graders after I finished and he read the entire book in a single day. It would also appeal to adults who can enjoy a book that doesn't take itself seriously.

Kasen's Review

Science Fair was a great book that did in fact make me sit at the edge of my seat. I'm not much of a Star Wars fan but this book was awesome. I did like it, but I read Dave Barry's and Ridley Pearson's other series: Peter and the Starcatchers Peter and the Shadow Thieves Peter and the Secert of Rundoon And liked the series I just told you it A LOT better. If you are a Peter Pan fan (ha that rhymes)then you will love the other series I just mentioned. So I would give this book 5 stars but if I were rating the other series I would give it 10 stars, so I would recrommend the other series (Peter and the Starcatchers)

Science Fair by Dave Barry

Dave Barry's book "Science Fair" is a must read for those in Middle School. This book is funny,it captures the attention of the reader,it involves a science fair project,(in which children in middle school are involved) and besides all of this, is a mystery novel. Even the child who is "allergic" to reading, will want to finish this book !

My Picky 8-Year-Old LOVED it!

My 8-year-old son loved this book. He reads a lot, but I've never heard such a glowing review, especially of a fiction book.

Awesome Book

My daughter read this book and said it was one of the best books she ever read! It is a really great book and we highly recommend it. Also, the video was awesome too and very much reflected what is in the book.