Science Fair

Grdankl the Strong, president of Krpshtskan, 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 counterfeit. What transpires is a hilarious adventure filled with mystery, suspense, and levitating frogs.

Dave Barry is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of more than a dozen books, including Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Far); The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog; Dave Barry's Money Secrets; and Big Trouble. With Ridley Pearson, he is coauthor of Peter and the Starcatchers; Peter and the Shadow Thieves; Peter and the Secret of Rundoon; Peter and the Sword of Mercy; Escape from the Carnivale; Cave of the Dark Wind; and Blood Tide.

Ridley Pearson , in addition to coauthoring the Peter and the Starcatchers series with Dave Barry, is the award-winning author of Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark; Kingdom Keepers II: Disney at Dawn; Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow; Steel Trapp: The Challenge and Steel Trapp: The Academy. He has also written more than twenty bestselling crime novels, including Killer View and Killer Weekend. He was the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Oxford University.