Ever wonder what the nerds at your school do in their spare time? Popular athlete Jackson Jones never does. Even though his hometown of Arlington, Virginia, is "one giant geektropolis ... [with] dweebs, spazzes, goobers, gomers, goofballs, and freak-outs crawling out of every nook and cranny" (2), he pays attention to these lower life forms only when one of them is about to be the unlucky recipient of a wedgie or a Kick Me sign or a spitwad to the face. Why grace them with his attention for any other reason? They're so nerdy they're barely human.

When Jackson's orthodontist puts him in highly magnetic braces (with headgear), Jackson's world turns upside down. Suddenly, his "friends" are calling him Braceface, he's cut from the football team, and his reign as Nathan Hale Elementary School royalty has offcially gone down the toilet. Even the nerds won't hang out with him.

Then, Jackson stumbles on a secret world, one he never dreamed could exist, especially not right under his elementary school. He's shocked to find that the geeks he picked on during his popular period are actually NERDS, a team of talented, highly-trained super spies, whose covert missions help bring justice to criminals wanted by the U.S. government. None of the secret agents are pleased to see Jackson in their hideout. And none of them want him on their team, no matter what his newly-upgraded braces can do. In his previous life, Jackson never would have begged these dweebs for anything, but now he longs to be part of their team. He just has to convince the NERDS to let him into their club. Not an easy task. Still, Jackson's taken on nerds before and won. Surely, this time won't be much different.

Except that it totally is. This time, Jackson's getting his butt kicked by the very kids he used to take such pleasure in tormenting. And it hurts. Badly. Literally and figuratively. As Jackson gets battered in training, thrown out of airplanes, chased by Egyptian tribal fighters, and captured by a psychotic criminal mastermind, he must learn to appreciate and rely on this band of misfits he now calls teammates. His survival depends on it.

I've mentioned before that I volunteer at my kids' elementary school, helping with its homegrown reading program. Well, one day last week, my daughter came home from school, handed me NERDS by Michael Buckley, and said, "The librarian wants you to write a test for this book because everyone is reading it." Before I could even nod, she added, "But can I read it first?" After which, my son said, "Yeah, I need to read it, too, Mom." A week later, I finally got my turn at this very popular book. It didn't take me long to see why kids are eating it up. NERDS really is a fun, zany adventure story. The story moves quickly, makes an excellent point about judging people, and is just plain old entertaining. My kids think it's absolutely hilarious. I have to agree. Hand this one to a reluctant reader and he'll be sold because Buckley makes everything cool - nerds, braces, allergies, eating glue, even reading. It's about time, don't you think?

(Readalikes: Um, I can't think of anything, really, except its sequels, M is for Mama's Boy and Cheerleaders of Doom [coming in September 2011])

Grade: B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for some bathroom-type humor and a vague reference to seducing exotic women

To the FTC, with love: I borrowed NERDS from my kids' elementary school library and read it as part of my volunteer work with the school's reading program.

Even though Rigg's spent most of his 13 years traipsing through the woods with his father, communing with more animals than humans, he knows he's different than other people. His gift makes him odd, unique, even dangerous. So, he uses his strange ability to see the paths left by all living creatures to help him trap animals, whose pelts he and his father then sell in the marketplaces of nearby towns. It's a life that suits Rigg, even if he does find his father's endless "lessons" irritating.


So, you may have noticed that I'm not the hugest Orson Scott Card fan. I didn't get Ender's Game (nor did I bother finishing it), I liked his Women of Genesis series, but didn't love it, and I found some of his other books disturbing (The Lost Boys, Saints, etc.). Given all that, I never would have picked up Pathfinder if it wasn't a contender for this year's Whitney Awards. That would have been a crying shame, too, because guess what? I thoroughly enjoyed Pathfinder. Yes, really. I know. Surprised me as well. I'm not going to pretend to understand all the science behind it (even after the dummied-down explanation OSC gives in the "Acknowledgments" section) - suffice it to say, my head's still spinning - but I found the storyline compelling, the characters engaging, and the whole idea fascinating. Some of the science-y parts got dull for me, yet, most of the book's 657 pages kept me completely riveted. And the ending only made me hungry for the sequels that will be coming. I never understood OSC's genius before. Now? I might finally be starting to get it ...

I'm a little behind on book reviews (again), so while I *try* to get my act together, how 'bout a little Hopping? Yes? Okay, then ... Click on over to Crazy for Books to join the fun.

This week's question: Since today is April Fool's Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?

- First, let me say that April Fool's Day is one of my least favorite holidays. I'm not into practical jokes at all, but I'm so gullible that I'm often the target of them. My FIL loves to tell the story of how he and my husband-to-be tricked me on my wedding day. We were married in Portland, Oregon, so my husband's family had to travel from Arizona to attend the wedding. They stayed at a nice little hotel in Hood River, Oregon, which overlooked the Columbia River. Since we were penniless college students and neither of our families really had any money, we weren't planning on a big honeymoon or any other kind of extravagance. In fact, the plan was for us to spend our wedding night in the hotel room my in-laws had been using, while they stayed in a different room of the same hotel. I didn't love the idea, but since I'm nothing if not practical, I agreed with the plan. Imagine my surprise (and relief!) when, a half hour or so after we got married, my new husband pulled a receipt out of his wallet showing that we had a room booked at Skamania Lodge, a very nice hotel/resort where I had worked as a teenager. He had reserved the room a month earlier, but thought it would be funny to tease me with the idea that we'd be spending our wedding night down the hallway from his parents. Despite its rather unauspicious beginning, the hubster and I have enjoyed 13 very happy years together.

And he hasn't stopped taking advantage of my gullibility yet! What about you? Are you totally gullible? How have pranksters taken advantage of you? C'mon, tell me I'm not the only one out there who falls for everything ... If you're here from the Hop, thanks so much for stopping by. Leave me a comment so I can stop by and check out your blog. Have a wonderful (read: uneventful) April Fool's Day!