Jackson Jones is the most popular boy in school—until he gets braces. His football helmet won't fit over his head gear, and all his former friends now treat him like he's a nerd. Instead of being in the center of the action, he is now on the sidelines observing it. But observation comes with its benefits. Jackson discovers that his school is a cover for a top secret government agency. As the janitor explains to Jackson when he stumbles into the secret lair, changes in technology rendered the previous model for espionage obsolete:
"There was only one group of people in the country with no fear of technology: children. The government quickly realized the advantages of recruiting children to do clandestine work. They are small, and adults often ignore them and underestimate their abilities and intelligence. In other words, children make great spies. So, in 1977, the government formed the National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society."
The current NERDS team consists of five nerdy misfits whose weaknesses have been enhanced to create superpowers. Duncan “Gluestick” Dewey is a paste-eater who can stick to walls. Matlda “Wheezer” Choi has an inhaler that shoots flames and enables her to fly. Heathcliff “Choppers” Hodges controls minds with his enormous buck teeth. Julio “Flinch” Escala has a special harness that turns his hyperactivity into superpowers: he can lift cars and run so fast he appears as a blur. Finally, there is Ruby “Pufferfish” Peet, whose allergies have been enhanced to the extent that she is "almost psychic." In addition to allergies to milk, peanuts, and soy, Pufferfish is allergic to people attacking her, to liars, to betrayal. She is a human danger detector. Together with two adult minders—the janitor and the librarian—and the lunch lady who pilots their sub-orbital school bus, these kids are out to save the world.
But where does Jackson fit into their team? When he accidentally stumbles into their lair and has his greatest weakness—his braces—enhanced, he becomes Braceface. Inadvertently, he becomes a member of a team who resents his intrusion and mistrusts his abilities. Can Jackson win their trust and save the world? For most of the book, he is the weak link in the team and his superpowers—braces that can transform into a variety of mouth-enhancing gadgets (such as robotic legs, lobster claws, and blades)—cause more harm than good. It is only through a series of failures and difficult lessons—many regarding his limited perceptions of the people around him—that he is able to earn his spot on the team. In fighting lessons with Matilda “Wheezer” Choi, where everyday objects are used as weapons, she teaches him that “A good secret agent can use anything as a weapon. A back scratcher can be just as deadly as a chainsaw. It shouldn't matter what you choose. I once took out a dozen terrorists with a jelly donut and a cup of coffee… You have a lazy mind, kid, and it's going to get you killed one of these days."
When Jackson asks the rest of the NERDS why they hate him so much, they show him video footage of his bullying, which he'd always thought of as teasing. "'But you guys are awesome fighters,'" he says. "You could have put me in my place easily."
"If we fought back, you might have been seriously injured, and it would have blown our cover as spies. But there's another reason why we took it, Jackson. It's because 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 invent things that make people healthier and happier. Nerds change the world.'"
National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society (N.E.R.D.S. Series #1) is by author Michael Buckley, best known for his Sisters Grimm Series, in which two female descendants of the Brothers Grimm solve mysteries based around fairy-tale crimes. He has also worked in television, creating shows for the Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., TLC, and Nickelodeon. While he describes the NERDS series as "James Bond with asthma," in terms of comic books, I felt this book seemed closely related to some of the kookier cable cartoons. Not only is the artwork dynamically cartoon-like, the descriptions are written with the visual clarity of a storyboard with cartoonish sight gags. NERDS is planned as a series with one book focusing on each character of the team; the next installment, M Is for Mama's Boy, will be out this September.
NERDS is not the first book to poke fun at the super-spy genre, and it will not be the last. But it is definitely a fun book to read with wide appeal to kids on either side of the nerd divide. At the end of the book in the acknowledgments section, Buckley writes, "I also want to thank all the bullies who picked on me when I was a skinny, nervous kid. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have hidden in the library and found my true calling."
Would you describe yourself or the children in your life as nerds? What secret super powers would you pick to be part of the NERDS team?
Sarah A. Wood, a reviewer for Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com since 2003, is a lifetime reader and writer. She refuses to accept that there are people who don't like to read and stubbornly believes this is only because they have not met the right book yet.
