NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society

On the one hand, this is a delightful, clever, funny book that will entertain any child who loves silly jokes, action heroes, satire, and books about nerds versus popular kids in school. I laughed aloud more than once, and I loved the many positive messages.

The NERDS are a group of fifth graders made up of actual “nerds” whose “weaknesses” have been bionically enhanced to give them special powers. The government made them into special agents after determining that kids would make the best spies because (1) they are small, and often overlooked and underestimated by adults, and (2) they are more techno-savvy than adults. Thus NERDS (National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society) was born.

The current crew includes Duncan show more “Gluestick” Dewey (he can stick to walls), Ruby “Pufferfish” Peet (her allergies can help her detect danger and dishonesty), Heathcliff “Choppers” Hodges (his buckteeth allow him to control minds), Julio “Flinch” Escala (his hyperactivity gives him super speed and strength) and Matilda “Wheezer” Chois (her inhalers enable her to fly and blast enemies). They are joined by the formerly popular Jackson "Braceface" Jones, who was rejected by his friends after getting braces.

Together, they sneak out of school to fight the evil Dr. Felix Jigsaw. Dr. Jigsaw is aided by Mindy (“Hyena”) Beauchamp, and it is the depiction of The Hyena that gets my hackles up. This is how the author describes her:

"For a professional killer with ice in her veins, the Hyena was pretty cute. She had platinum blonde hair and bright green eyes, long eyelashes, and a nose like a button. When she was seven years old, her mother decided to capitalize on her daughter’s stunning good looks … and plunged her daughter into the world of professional child beauty pageants.”

Here’s my problem. The author has made his nerd group multicultural (although the male hero is a stereotypical blond, “handsome” football playing jock). He has filled his book with positive messages about the ultimate value of kids who tend to be considered nerds in school:

"…we know that what the popular kids have to offer the world is so tiny and unimportant compared to what the nerds will do. The dorks, dweebs, goobers, and spazzes that you picked on are the ones who will grow up to discover the vaccines, write the great novels, push the boundaries of science and technology, and invest things that make people healthier and happier. Nerds change the world.”

And yet the author slips in numerous references to what makes someone beautiful (or handsome), and they are not multicultural images. (Nor, for that matter, are they images of kids who wear braces, glasses, or have medical conditions.) I think many teens want to be attractive; they’ll worry about curing diseases when they’re older – far, far in the future. In particular, Buckley’s book doesn’t help the young girls of color with their self-image who read this book, nor does he help abate the slew of subliminal messages that affect young white people.

Consider the new movie by Chris Rock, “Good Hair,” in which he explores the history of race relations in America as symbolized by images of black women and attitudes toward their hair. He says he decided to investigate the issue after his young daughter said to him, “Daddy, why don’t I have good hair?”

How are little girls of color supposed to love themselves, when every cultural image from the overt to the subtle tells them they are not the same as what is defined as attractive? How are they supposed to grow up to be self-actualizing, confident women who value themselves?

This is a very fun book that is “reluctant reader friendly”. But how long must we reinforce the notion, as bell hooks laments, that “the femininity most sought after, most adored, [is] that perceived to be the exclusive property of white womanhood?” If we don’t start with kids, changing what is taught through the words and images used in books, movies, videos, and ads, how will these notions of beauty ever evolve?

Evaluation: If it weren’t for its images of “beautiful” and “handsome” I would be telling you I absolutely adored this book. But I can’t get past the deleterious stereotyping. I recommend it highly, but with adult commentary. It's a fun book that provides a great teaching opportunity. show less

NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society by Michael Buckley is the first book in a series of elementary school aged superheroes, who are nerds in their secret identities. It's told from the point of view of a bully, Jackson, who is accidentally recruited.

Before any of that happens, Jackson is turned appearance-wise into a nerd. He suddenly needs braces and suffers some other normal teenage changes. Gone is the jock and Jackson is out of sorts.

I don't know if this long introduction is supposed to make Jackson a sympathetic character or a humorous one. For me, it does neither. It bloats the book and drags the pacing.

Eventually Jackson catches onto the nerds of the class disappearing all together. He decides to follow them show more out of curiosity. When they seem to disappear into thin air, he literally falls into their secret lair. And then there's more time on Jackson's new persona and how the National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society works. By this time, I was singing the Rescue Aid Society song from The Rescuers as my attention and interest further drifted.

There is so much introductory material in the first of the NERDS series that there's little room left for adventure. I hear from my son that the later books are more plot focused. show less

Ok. You have your average nerd/secret society story. Outcast kids turn out to be amazingly cool, band together, save the world, and totally destroy the popular kids. Or just never see them again. And we all learn a VERY IMPORTANT LESSON.

And then you have NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society. It starts out with all the stereotypes: geeky kids who don't fit in because they lack social skills or have physical issues or are just weird. Super cool kids who torment the nerds. Slick, professional secret agent sent to take charge of their secret government operation. Evil/crazy villain and stunningly beautiful henchwoman (well, really goon but she's kinda sensitive about that).

And then....Michael Buckley takes all these show more elements and turns it into something completely different.

About Michael Buckley. I skimmed part of a Sisters Grimm book several years ago. But as I was currently involved in skimming HUNDREDS of books to create fantasy bibliographies for the School of Education library at UIUC (You can see them here if you're interested) it didn't really sink in. Over the past couple months, I've had a small but steady stream of kids "where's the Sisters Grimm?" "Why don't you have all of them?" Leading me to add the rest of the series to my "series to fill in when money falls on my head out of the sky" list.

And then, ALA. The very first publisher I happened upon was Abrams. And there was Lauren Myracle! And she was signing books! And I thought, SUMMER READING PRIZE! And then I noticed another book, with kinda a cool cover, and thought, "oh, I'll get that one too." Then I took a closer look, "oh, it's that guy the kids keep talking about. Cool, I'll get an autograph, and tell him how much the kids like his books."
So I added it to my giant stack and staggered home. Yesterday evening, after an exhausting day of programs, shelving (my aide is out of town) and just STUFF. I sat down for cartoons and a book. And this one happened to be on top of my pile.

So, back to the book. As I was saying, before I digressed into la-la-land (hey, it was a REALLY LONG DAY), this is an exuberant, explosive book. Literally! It explodes conventions. It explodes scientists. It even explodes guinea pigs! It shakes up ideas about bullies, popularity, nerds, and beauty pageants. It has tons of exciting action, cool gadgets, weird superpowers, and suitably malicious villains. Kids aren't just nerds, bullies, secret agents, or assassins. They're also...kids. Who sometimes learn how to change and grow....and sometimes don't. Buckley has even managed to make the adults believable and dimensional characters. And it's got hilarious little inserts between each chapter!

And....*drumroll please*....it's got guinea pigs! Yes! Woot!

Verdict: Fans of the Benedict Society, Kiki Strike, Joshua Mowll, Catherine Jinks' Evil Genius, David Lubar's Talent books, and all things gadgety, secret societish, and geekly, will be thrilled to read this! And if not....we're WATCHING you. Squeak!

ISBN: 978-0810943247; Published September 2009 by Abrams; ARC provided by publisher at ALA 2009; Purchased for the library; Added to my personal wishlist show less

The humor in this book is just like that in [b: The Sisters Grimm|295834|The Unusual Suspects (The Sisters Grimm, #2)|Michael Buckley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1276514128s/295834.jpg|581426]. It's over-the-top sarcasm, ridiculousness and satire. BUT. It's consistent and tight. Buckley is a natural at this type of writing. Unlike his fantasy series which draws a huge fan base from the Grimm connection, this book is science-fiction. It's the classic evil scientist wanting to destroy the world, which has been done a gazillion times. It has the classic children's book theme of the nerd squad putting the popular kids to shame. Though maybe not original, these scenarios sell books. Boys especially will be drawn to this book and will show more probably return for the remaining installments.

Jackson is the most popular kid at Nathan Hale Elementary School, but the nerds have overpopulated the town and the school. He bullies them with spitball ambushes and wedgies. Then his orthodontist gives him the bad news. He has 64 teeth and is going to need braces and headgear. Overnight his popularity tanks. Even the nerds don’t want to have anything to do with him.

Jackson may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he notices the nerds acting weird. Desperate to belong, he follows them and ends up in the secret headquarters of the National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society, aka NERDS. All of the NERDS have their weaknesses enhanced, giving them extraordinary abilities. None of them want their former bully in the group, but the adult in charge over-rides their vote. Jackson's braces are enhanced into shape-changing weapons so he and his hostile cohorts can save the planet from Jigsaw. With the help of his beauty pageant contestant turned assassin, he aims to move the continents back to their Pangea configuration.

Highly recommend for high humor reluctant readers. show less

Oregon Battle of the Books

a great example of a book that, as an adult ~ I REALLY disliked. As a 6th grader, I would have loved it. The action and annoying humor would have been fun. The main character was so unlikable but he got what he deserved right?

But as an adult, this was truly miserable. The main narrator was AWFUL! Hyena, equally as horrific! Two selfish awful kids. The surrounding children did not redeem any part of the book. The barking Commander, librarian, principal and the Dad. ALL embarrassing horrible adults.

But, I can see a kid liking this.

Jackson Jones, 11, goes from super popular to super geek, in the time it takes to be fitted with braces complete with headgear. He soon stumbles upon the underground headquarters (in their school) of a group of outcasts called NERDS, who with the help of technology “upgrades”, turn their weaknesses like allergies into superpowers, fighting crime until they turn eighteen. When he tries to escape, Jackson finds himself accidentally upgraded. His braces become equipped with teeny-tiny nanobytes capable of morphing into any object. After his accidental upgrade, Jackson is asked to join the NERDS, but he soon finds that not everyone wants him around—especially those he use to pick on when he was popular. However, if they are to foil show more the evil Dr. Jigsaw, they must all come together and quick! show less

Okay, let me first start off by saying I loved the cover. When I saw it the song "Secret Agent Man" kept going through my head. The second think I though was that these characters looked an awful lot like characters I would find on Nikelodeon. Yes I do watch cartoons. I have to be able to discuss them with my students. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. When I first opened the book, the inside jacket flap had a list of characters. The fifth grade secret agent spies. These were all kids who were nerds and the governmetn helped them enhance their nerdiness to give them secret powers. Jackson "Braceface" Jones was never one of the nerds. That is until he got his braces and lost his friends. He was no longer a part of the popular show more crowd. Enter the nerds. The group he had always tormented was up to something and he wanted to know what. After following them he watched them duck into lockers and disappear. He follows them and that is when trouble starts. He has entered the world of spies. I loved this book. It was a lot of fun. I can see my students reading it and laughing out loud. I have read the entire Sister's Grimm series so I assumed I would like this one just as much and I was right. I will definitely recommend this book to my students. show less