Science Fair

Rating: 2.5* of five

The Publisher Says: 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 show more 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.

My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt for the 15th is a choose-you-own day! Wheee, right?

Naw. I hadda go an' eff it all up by making this my Drano book of the month. (You know, the one I read because I'd really rather drink Drano than read this author/genre/what's-it.)

So as expected I hated it. It's a middle-school market book. I didn't like middle-schoolers when I was one, and I like them less now. Vicious little bastards. They're hateful and spiteful and brimful of stupid. Yuck.

It doesn't help that the fake country the co-authors invent, Krpshtskan, is something straight out of Borat. (Remember that movie? Ye gawds.) It also doesn't help that the entire plot is such that Spy Kids begins to resemble Strindberg.

But you're not the audience, comes the cry. No indeed I am not. I am an adult with forty-six years of obsessive reading behind me! And yet others have tutted and tsked because there are those of us who don't want to read YA novels. So this random example, a Kindle special today, got the nod as my test subject. I have a Zilpha Keatly Snyder novel cued up to see if it's just humor that doesn't play well to an older audience. I need a respite before I wade into that one. This could easily be the most wonderful thing a kid could find, so I'm not raggin' on it as itself. It's just so extremely ridiculously grotesquely overblown and overplayed and after all, that's how kids like 'em.

But really, moms and dads, read this before giving kids access to it. Every adult is malevolent or stupid or both. Every authority is deaf, every honest person is reviled by all and sundry. Serious question here: Do you want your kid absorbing this message? That s/he's alone against an uncaring-to-hostile world, with parents that won't listen, teachers that smell bad, take bribes, and collude with enemies of the state?

This isn't good. It panders to an invidious set of stereotypes that reinforce a helpless, whadda-ya-gonna-do passivity and does so with "humor" so it slides down their gullets easier.

This bothers the hell out of me. show less

"Science Fair" is a captivating romp that involves a group of middle school students, a rigged science fair, one small country's attempt to cripple the technology of the United States, and Star Wars blackmail. Kids and adults alike might enjoy this book.

Having read Dave Barry's columns for years, I particularly enjoyed when I could point to passages in which his sense of humor clearly came into play. And whenever Dave Barry is involved, hilarity will ensue (see one of his other novels, "Big Trouble" as an example), so there were some parts at which I actually laughed out loud. Though I haven't read anything else Ridley Pearson has written, I can imagine that he might act as a somewhat rational buffer to all of Dave Barry's silliness to show more keep it from getting too out of hand.

I think toward the end, the book labored a bit about how nearly none of the grownups listened to the main protagonists. But on the other hand, it is probably how children feel every day of their lives, so it may be appropriate. And given that the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books number 13 strong, perhaps the theme of inept or inattentive adults resonates strongly with the readers.

Despite the seemingly long lead-up to the smash-bang conclusion, this book was funny and engaging, surprising, and full of both adult and kid references that makes it fun for the whole family. show less

I have always had a soft spot for Dave Barry, and Big Trouble is my very favorite book. No Enemy Toad in this one, but there is a very unfortunate frog.

I read the first two Peter Pan books, and while they were fun and interesting, they weren't really Dave Barry. This YA novel is all Dave Barry, right down to the reference to "McArthur Park," (I left my cake in the rain and I'll never have it agaaaaaiiiiiiiiin). Impossible to put down. I hope there's a sequel.

*****
This was hands down the favorite book of my Are You Kidding Me? book club (summer 2023). Parker stayed up until 4:30 a.m., then sat in the driveway to finish reading before our session started. All the thumbs up. We need to write Dave and Ridley a strongly worded fan letter.

Susan says: This book, like most of Barry and Pearson's juvenile novels, is a book that seems very long, but moves very quickly. There are many subplots, at least one of which may have been able to be cut, allowing the book to be a little shorter. But it is funny at a 10 year old level, which makes it enjoyable by much younger children. Toby somehow gets himself into a whole lot of trouble including foreign terrorists from a country that can't quite get themselves together, Star Wars thieves, science fair projects and the FBI. How this all sorts itself out is quite funny and includes a lot of friends and science. There are some memorable characters in this book, which is going to have a sequel, and I hope these books continue along this show more boy road, using subjects and humor that boys would be interested in. It was funny and suspenseful, and uses technology in an accessible way. Also, I think Barry and Pearson have become much better collaborators at this time, and you can't tell who has written what anymore. Funny and interesting. show less

This is a very silly story, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Our main protagonist, Toby, is in the 8th or 9th grade, and acts like it- including various stupid chpoices, like stealing stuff from his parents to sell to buy a fancy gaming computer. This brings a second plot into action... but the first is the way a foreign national is subverting the Science Fair in order to bring down the United States, with the aid and assistance of ambitious and unethical parents and kids.

Naturally, everyone believes the rich kids, including the Feds. So it is up to our middle-schoolers to save the day!

Unlike some of Barry's adult novels, this has no inappropriate content in terms of sex or language, so is suitable for most middle-schoolers and show more up- though as an adult, I found it a very entertaining read.

Characterization was good; ridiculousness abounds; the plot(s) is/are complex and a bit farce-like, and there's a real snarky shout-out to Home Shopping Network.

Recommended if you like silly farces! show less

This is a silly book, a really silly book. It's got a silly start and every page has something silly.

The cover art makes it look a little serious, but possibly silly, but nope, soon as you walk in, it's non-serious goofball adventures.

The book doesn't however, read in a way most teenagers or young kids would enjoy. It's aging already, with references to Brad Pitt in it among other lines. There are moments the kids talk like adults, the adults talk like kids. There's no consistency to it within the first chapter or two, and that ruins the immersion.

Is it a bad book? No, but it's trying to be Dean Koontz for kids when most kids don't want Dean Koontz. A very niche book for a very niche crowd. Would make a good audiobook though!

Our family just listened to Science Fair by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Although this book is by no means as good as their Peter and the Starcatchers series, this is a good road trip book, especially for kids (and adults) who like that gross, bathroom style humor that Dave Barry is famous for. The story centers around a group of terrorists that are trying to control the world by sabotaging a school science fair held in a Maryland suburb. With characters names like Grdankl the Strong from the country of Kprshtskan (which seems to lack vowels), the audiobook is laugh out loud funny and narrator Phil Gigante has no problem spouting out vowel-less names and sound effects that add to the humor.