This new series stars a pair of clever twins who have inherited enough of their father’s genius to get themselves – and him – out of some tight spots.
The Templeton Twins Have an Idea
by Ellis Weiner
Chronicle Books
ISBN: 978 0 8118 6679 8
John and Abigail are the twin children of a professor and inventor who has decided to move the family to a new university and home after losing his wife. Upon their arrival, the professor is invited to speak and is confronted unpleasantly by a young man who insists that his idea has been stolen and incorporated into the professor’s current project. When the professor insists that this is not true, this former student grows angry and threatens to make him pay. What follows includes a new nanny, kidnapping, a stolen prototype, and a whole lot of very, very clever plans improvised on the spot by our very, very clever twins.
This all ends well, adn sets up for a followup, as this is planned to be the start of a new series. The book mixes text and illustrations like an early chapter, but I would gauge it to be a little more sophisticated, say a grade 3-5 level, on average. The illustrations add some fun, though, and appeal to those more reluctant readers. Also appealing to kids who like a snarky tone is the voice of the narrator, which I at first found a little annoying, but it grew on me, and it would definitely hit the mark with kids who enjoy the clever and sarcastic.