Nikki Tesla and the Fellowship of the Bling

Elements of Genius #2

by Jess Keating, Lissy Marlin (Illustrator)

"For a group of geniuses who are supposed to help people, we do an awful lot of stealing."

Nikki Tesla and the rest of the Genius Academy team have agreed to pilfer a completely priceless, totally lethal high-tech ring. Why? Because a mad scientist on a power trip plans to use it to do some serious damage. And because the very same mad scientist has kidnapped Mary Shelley. Mess with one genius, and you mess with them all.

But mostly they're planning the heist of the century so Nikki can get to know her long-lost father who claims he isn't the criminal mastermind she believes him to be. After all, if a little international thievery can protect the world from evil, it just might save Nikki's family.

Genres: Adventure, Middle Grade

278 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2020

About the author

Jess Keating is an award-winning author, cartoonist, and zoologist, whose work has been featured in the New York Times, CBC, Buzzfeed, Parents Magazine, and more.

She is the creator of over a dozen fiction and nonfiction books, including Eat Your Rocks, Croc!, Shark Lady, Pink is for Blobfish, the Elements of Genius middle grade series, and the graphic novel series, Bunbun & Bonbon.

Get printables, videos, and more fun stuff for kids at https://www.jesskeating.com/

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting twist on well known real life geniuses - Tesla, Einstein, Mozart, Shelley, da Vinci, O'Malley, Darwin. Keating created a story about kids who are beyond bright and share names and abilities with these real people.

Told as a "full account" of the incidents involved in capturing a master criminal.

Nikki struggles to fit in based on her own social awkwardness and her father's notoriety. Her mom brings in tutors to homeschool her as she's so far beyond the normal curriculum. She's an inventor whose inventions can be dangerous. Nikki creates a death ray and her ferret accidentally uses it to blow a hole in their home. This sets off the chain of events that leads to her being at Genius School.

When she arrives at the school, she must pass an initiation test where she meets the six other attendees Shortly after that, her death ray is stolen from the school's secure storage, and she discovers the school is a cover for a secret group who go out and save the world when needed.
Being part of a team is new to Nikki and she doesn't trust them with the truth of her background or her discoveries as they solve the situation. The adventures along the way make up most of this book. The story ends with a clear cliffhanger that leads to the next book.

Keating captures the humor and frustrations of fitting in. Middle grade readers will recognize pieces of themselves in each of the seven students.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nikki and the rest of the Genius Academy students are being sent to a tiny island near the Galapagos to steal a dangerous ring so that it can be kept out of the hands of bad guys who'd use it for nefarious purposes. When they eventually get to the secret cave where the ring is supposed to be hidden, Nikki starts to get a strange feeling about the cave and mission. It has a lot of echoes from her childhood. And with that on top of her recent distractedness trying not to think of her evil villain dad who isn't as dead as she thought, Nikki has an uneasy feeling about this mission. Just who made this ring and what does it do?

A very fun adventure to South America with Nikki and the gang. I liked all the nods to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as well as Alice in Wonderland. Keating does an excellent job with pacing, and letting each of the 7 kids have a moment to shine with their unique skills. There's some very interesting developments regarding Nikki's dad in this one. Hand this series to kids who like spy stories and smart kids saving the world.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content beyond a teensy kiss. There's violence threatened but no one gets seriously hurt. The kids have to do some things like "borrow" a boat for the good of the world.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you @kidlitexchange for the chance to review Elements of Genius by @jesskeatingbooks! This book is coming out in February and is as good as the first! Nikki and her friends are geniuses, actual geniuses. Her father has been missing for 7 years but never mind that - they need to rescue a top secret ring with incredible powers! When the rescue is too easy, you know there’s going to be more to this story...stealing a ship, breaking and entering, bad guys, loyalty tests...
•
Your middle grade readers are going to love the adventure, the smarts, and the mystery all involved in this book. I’ll definitely be ordering it for my 4th-6th readers!

[Pam Withers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast-moving, creative plot with smart, fun characters -- seven diverse young geniuses out to save the world from a scientist gone mad. It has twists and turns galore, the writing is punchy and the dialogue is laced with good teen humor. The protagonist and her team are courageous, brilliant, devious and have each others' backs. The plot includes armed robbers, kidnapping, parachuting, cellular realignment (whereby a human can turn into a ferret, or the evil double of another human), a dangerous ring, a lab built into a volcano, a sock-sniffing tracker ferret, an untrustworthy dad, even a first kiss.

[Liesl]

I didn't like this one quite as much as the first book, but this was still a fun read! I'm reading this series because they came highly recommended by a kid in my 4th and 5th grade book club, and she says that Book 3 is her favorite. So I'm looking forward to it!

[Kathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great sequel in the Elements of Genius series.

[Justin Hrenko]

Great

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

May and Piper, perhaps Elena would like Nikki and her team from Genius Academy.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read-aloud with Molly. She’s enjoying the series.

[Adhie D]

It is a very good book, for me it is quite relatable and Nikki reminds me of myself.

[JustAnotherReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I liked the plot twist with Nikki's father, and the story in general was pretty good, and funny in some parts.

No LGBT+ characters, no profanity. No serious romance; the main character kisses her crush.