Nikki Tesla and the Traitors of the Lost Spark

Elements of Genius #3

by Jess Keating, Lissy Marlin (Illustrations)

Genius Academy is under attack! When a routine operation goes horribly wrong, Nikki Tesla and the team take the blame for an international incident of epic proportions, and the school is shut down indefinitely. A little creative "research" tells them someone is planning biological warfare on a grand scale. But to get to the truth and clear their name, Nikki will have to get her hands on either the virus or the antidote to stop a criminal mastermind from infecting the whole world.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 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

[Jesus_Lover0421 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars for this book and overall a 4.75 for the whole trilogy. Honestly the only thing keeping me from rating 5 stars is because I really wished the main character got with one of the side characters, Bert. They teased each other throughout the book, Bert is really sweet, and Bert is a more complex and developed character (imo). Overall, such a cute series (although this last book feels a bit odd because it’s randomly a different villain with no connection to the previous villain)

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nikki is swept away from her parents' wedding rehearsal to go on an urgent mission in London. Someone faceless villain known only as V has created a virus that could wipe out the world's population. The US Government has already lost several operatives to tracking down V, and the President doesn't want to get the Genius Academy involved, but Martha knows that these kids are the world's last hope. But when they show up in London, the kids are accused of stealing the crown jewels, MI6 thinks they are criminal masterminds, the US President marks them as rogue, Martha is arrested, and the kids are completely on their own. Can they find V and get their hands on either the virus or the antidote before it is too late?

This was definitely the Genius Academy gang's hardest mission yet. Nothing is going their way, except gaining a new member who is willing to financially back them and help with strategy. The kids get to visit London, Edinburgh, and Paris in this one. Nikki is definitely the star of the show in this one, with Mary a strong 2nd. The other kids don't get as much time to shine as in the last one, and I missed that. I think book 2 is my favorite in this series, but this was still a fun adventure, and it includes some great nods to Sherlock Holmes and Frankenstein. Hand this to spy story fans.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content beyond a little kiss on the cheek. There are perilous situations but everyone ends up ok eventually. Again, the kids have to "borrow" some things for the greater good.

[Manaal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!
This book was very enjoyable and fun to read. It was an astonishing and delightful read! It is a middle-grade read. I really loved the friend group in the book. They seemed very nice and they help each other no matter what. I think it was very cute and the plot was amazing.

So this book is about a girl named Nikola Tesla. She goes to this school called genius academy, the school is for people that have a different kind of mind and are very smart. She has a friend group Grace, Mary, Leo, Bert, Mo. Nikki has a pet named Pickles. They have to solve a mission. They have to go to London and find this guy named Victor, he is evil and he's making this virus called the Spark and he wants to turn billions of people in the world to a monster. So they have to stop him from making the virus and spreading it across the world. This was a whole rollercoaster and I loved it lots. Definitley recommend if your are middle grade and enjoy Sci-Fi and Adventure.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book in the series continues the adventures and adds a new character to the Genius Academy.
This time the villain is again personal and related to one of the team. Plenty of action and suspense along with the humor. Middle grade readers may be surprised at how Nicki saves everyone from the deadly virus and suspend reality a bit to get there.

[Liesl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, this was definitely my favorite of the trilogy. This is such a clever series, and a great way to introduce kids to reimagined versions of true geniuses.

[JustAnotherReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

No LGBT+ characters, no profanity, childish romance.

[Katelyn Feeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like that they offered little picture for me to understand what they looked like to add more to the book. Even small little pictures mean so much to me.