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About The Book

The battle between boys and bots is on in this funny, fast-paced novel.

Ken is an EngiNerd: one of a super-smart group of friends—all nerds—who have been close since kindergarten.

They may be brainiacs, but they’re just like everyone else: they fight with one another, watch too much TV, eat Chinese food, and hate walking their dogs. Well, maybe not just like everyone because Ken’s best friend Dan has been building robots. He then secretly sent one to each of the EngiNerds, never letting them know he’s the mastermind.

At first Ken is awed and delighted: what kid hasn’t dreamed of having a robot all their own? Someone who can be their friend, clean their room, walk the dog, answer homework questions…how amazing is that?

But be careful what you wish for: Dan’s robot, Greeeg, may look innocent, but his ravenous consumption of food—comestibles—turns him into a butt-blasting bot. And once the other robots ‘come alive’ it’s up to the motley crew of EngiNerds to not only save the day, but save the planet!

Excerpt

EngiNerds 1.
THERE’S A BOX ON MY front porch.

It’s big.

Brown.

Smooshed in at the corners and bruised along the sides.

It’s for me.

How do I know?

Somebody wrote KENNEDY in thick black marker on the box’s top.

Normally, I’d assume a random box on my front porch was from my grandpa. But this isn’t my grandpa’s handwriting. His is neat and clean, and this person’s? It’s a mess.



The only thing I can think is that maybe my grandpa disguised his handwriting. Maybe the surprise of what’s inside is so good that he didn’t want me to know it was from him at first.

I start to wonder what the old guy might be up to—but then I remember that there’s a big box on my porch with my name scrawled on top of it.

In other words: I’m too flipping excited to stand here and think about anything else. I want to open it up. I want to open it up NOW.

So I lug the box inside.

About The Author

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Jarrett Lerner is the award-winning creator of more than a dozen books for kids, including the EngiNerds series of middle grade novels, the Geeger the Robot series of early chapter books, the Hunger Heroes series of graphic chapter books, two activity books, the illustrated novel in verse A Work in Progress, and the Nat the Cat series of early readers. You can find him online at JarrettLerner.com and on X and Instagram at @Jarrett_Lerner. He lives with his wife and daughters in Massachusetts.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Aladdin (March 1, 2019)
  • Length: 192 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781481468718
  • Ages: 9 - 13

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Awards and Honors

  • Wisconsin State Reading Association's Reading List
  • Sunshine State Young Readers' Award Jr. Nominee (FL)
  • Alaska Battle of the Books Lis

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