Edison's Gold

September 27, 2010
A decades-old rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla seeps into the lives of their modern-day descendants in this spirited debut. Bighearted seventh-grader Tom Edison IV creates disasters more often than inventions: "Even when he was in trouble, his mind was a distracted flurry of explosions and ideas." When his father is laid off and the family faces moving from New York to Kansas, Tom desperately seeks a way to keep his life intact. After yet another accident, he uncovers the first in a string of riddles that mention a secret group called the Sub Rosa, dedicated to protecting Edison's secret alchemical formula for turning metal into gold. Crisscrossing New York City with friends Noodle and Colby, "he was going to do whatever it took to unlock its secrets and prove to the world that the Edison name was not a punch line but a badge of honor." Unfortunately, Tesla's great-grandson is onto them. Watson's novel is a fun ride, filled with kidnappings, close friendships, and inventions. The open-ended finale indicates that a sequel can be anticipated. Ages 8–12.

September 1, 2010

Threatened with a move from Yonkers to Wichita, inveterate inventor Tom Edison IV, along with his seventh-grade friends Noodle and Colby, gets embroiled in a hunt for the secret of making gold that Edison's double-great-grandfather was guarding from Nikola Tesla. Tesla's great-grandson, now a powerful, corrupt businessman, is close behind. Set in a modern world with asthma inhalers, text messaging, listening devices and a girl as one of the gang, this nonetheless has the flavor of an old-fashioned boy's story. Opening with a flashback introducing the Edison/Tesla rivalry, Watson engages his readers almost immediately with a school project gone wrong, a runaway, bleach-powered electrified soapbox car that lands Tom's friend Noodle in a school fountain and Tom in even deeper waters. The suspense intensifies with increasingly implausible chases: crawling through air shafts in the Metropolitan Museum, racing through a tunnel ahead of a speeding train and swimming through storm drains into the Hudson River. Part treasure hunt, part mystery and part quest-adventure, this is all fun. This completely self-contained and satisfying story leaves room for sequels. (Adventure. 9-12)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011

Gr 5-8-Tom Edison IV, middle-school wannabe inventor and Thomas Edison's great-great grandson, doesn't want his family to leave Yonkers, NY, for Kansas after his father loses his job, so he's determined to find a way for his family to stay. This becomes a possibility after he discovers a clue to a centuries-old family secret related to his famous relative's discovery of the secret formula for changing metal into gold. Tom and his sidekicks Colby and Noodle are on the hunt for it. Along the way they encounter the secret society Sub Rosa (formed by the likes of Edison, Henry Ford, Babe Ruth, Franklin Roosevelt, and others) and must solve mind-boggling clues that lead them through various parts of New York City. Tom isn't the only one after the formula; Nikola Tesla's great-great grandson (who happens to be Tom's dad's former boss) believes that it belongs to him. Rumor has it that Tesla and the first Edison had a major falling out over it, and it ruined Tesla's career. The race is on to see who can solve the puzzle first. It's up to Tom to save his family's name and legacy. Edison's Gold is a fast-paced adventure filled mystery that middle schoolers will like. It's unfortunate that there is no factual note about Edison, Tesla, and whether the Sub Rosa society really existed. The ending leaves room for the possibilities of sequels.-Shannon Seglin, Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2010
Grades 4-7 Frequently in trouble at school for mishaps involving his inventions, seventh-grader Tom Edison (great-great-grandson of his famous namesake) learns that his father has been fired and must accept a job in a distant city. While hoping to forestall the move and restore his familys fortunes, Tom discovers a clue that might lead to his ancestors greatest discovery, a method for creating gold. He and his two best friends begin a wild treasure hunt as they attempt to solve the mystery and outsmart the bad guys, ironically led by a man descended from Edisons archenemy, Nikola Tesla. Given the headlong chase from clue to clue and the endless efforts to escape the clutches of Teslas wicked descendant and his henchmen, theres little time for character development, much less reflection. Still, this action-packed novel will fit the bill for readers craving adventure stories in which clever kids take chances and triumph in the end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2011
Thomas Edison IV's family has abundant innovative spirit. When riddles draw Tom into a chase for the secrets of alchemy, the vengeful descendants of rival Nikola Tesla loom large. Despite thin characterization, the breakneck pace and scientific fantasy may possibly pique readers' interest in the inventors' unembellished histories (though how the famously celibate Tesla acquired a direct descendant is a mystery).

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)