This is the first book in Paul Tobin's new series, The Genius Factor. The two main characters are Nate Bannister, the rich genius, and his only friend Delphine. Both of these kids are in sixth grade and Delphine is extremely popular and funny, while Nate is an outsider with no friends.

Every Friday the 13th Nate does three not so smart things. This year he made his cat into a giant, made him invisible, then deconstructed the formula to change him back and put sections of it on seven different people or things. Unfortunately, his cat, Proton, has escaped and is destroying the city. Nate convinces Delphine to help him collect the parts of the formula to change Proton back. With a talking dog, a car reminiscent of Kit from Night Rider and other gadgets and gizmos, they embark on an adventure to capture the gigantic invisible cat and change him back. Time is limited with Nate's nemesis, the Red Death Tea Society, on their heels trying to stop them and intimidate Delphine. With Nate's brain and inventions along with Delphine's fast thinking, they manage to keep their town, friends, and family safe.

Action abounds in this story. With spunk, sarcasm, and spontaneity protagonist Delphine tells the story and shares her inner thoughts and feelings with the reader. After the adventure, Nate settles back in to his mild mannered persona, and Delphine begins to feel a little guilty about this which is also a good lesson for the reader about the way some eccentric or different children may be treated in a school. Middle grade readers, future inventors, and adventure seekers will enjoy Nate and Delphine's encounters as they solve puzzles and pursue the runaway cat. There are five books planned for this series and you can see with this ending where the next one may go.

I would definitely recommend that this book be in school and public libraries. I think those reluctant readers would really enjoy this book.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Great concept but the writing was terrible ( )

Delphine has only just noticed Nate Bannister. He's very quiet and a little odd, but only when she sees him being tested by some strange people does she realize he's not at all the average, boring kid she thought he was.

The next thing she knows, she's gotten caught up in his insane adventures, trying to corral an invisible (and giant) cat, escape from tea-drinking assassins, riding hippos, having discussions about emotions with a car and....what has she gotten herself into??

Eventually all ends well (more or less) and Delphine goes back to her ordinary, everyday life. But....once she's gotten a taste for adventure with Nate, she wants more...

This is very wacky. It's definitely in that genre of adventure story that could easily be mistaken for a bedtime story. "And then what happened?" "um....then hippos showed up! But he had a friendship ray! But then he dropped it in the water!" Nate is constantly producing gadgets, unlimited funds, and scientific gabble to solve any problem that arises, so the sense of peril is never really there. Older middle grade readers are probably not going to be interested in this unless they're really into silly stuff. But younger readers, who might be more willing to read silly adventures, are unlikely to pick up a book this long (260 pages). It falls into that tiny audience of young but strong readers.

Verdict: These types of silly adventures don't circulate very well at my library and the genre is already quite full so I'd pass on this one. I'd reconsider if it was a graphic novel or shorter (100 pages or less).

ISBN: 9781619638402; Published 2016 by Bloomsbury; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

Note: I accessed digital review copies of this book through NetGalley and Edelweiss. ( )