(3) 4-6 Alternator Books: STEM Smackdown series. These lively narratives investigate controversies surrounding who actually developed widely used STEM advances. Each text traces an invention's history, technology, and development by following the contest between two people, each of whom have claimed to be the true inventor. Well-designed with captioned color and black-and-white photographs, paintings, and diagrams, the books should intrigue readers and encourage further research. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Alternator Books: STEM Smackdown titles: Who Invented the Light Bulb?, Who Invented the Radio?, Who Invented the Telephone?, Who Invented the Airplane?, Who Invented the Movie Camera?, and Who Invented the Television?

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 STEM Trailblazer Bios series. This set of the continuing series features both contemporary and historical science and technology innovators. The inspiring profiles, which touch on childhood, education, and the subjects' breakthrough accomplishments, will tie in well with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curriculum objectives. A colorful, easy-to-read format features photos and "tech talk" sidebars with quotes, mostly from the "trailblazers" themselves. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these STEM Trailblazer Bios titles: Space Engineer and Scientist Margaret Hamilton, Genius Physicist Albert Einstein, Inventor, Engineer, and Physicist Nikola Tesla, Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson, and Super Soaker Inventor Lonnie Johnson.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) YA Hope and her fellow time-traveling Viators (Into the Dim) visit Gilded Age New York City. Villainous Dr. Carson attempts to trap them in the past by manipulating the era's misogyny and racism to commit Hope and Doug to an asylum. The vivid nineteenth-century setting, with all its beauty and brutality, makes a compelling backdrop for engagingly romantic story lines and thought-provoking considerations of fate.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) K-3 Great Idea series. Illustrated by Bill Slavin. This brief, uneven look at Tesla's inventing career begins with his 1884 arrival in America and ends rather abruptly with his 1896 Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant. Although focusing on Tesla's famous conflicts with Edison, his rivalry with Marconi--who was credited with inventing the radio but used Tesla's ideas--is glossed over in an endnote. Droll pen-and-ink drawings capture the era.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) 4-6 Gadgets and Gears series. Illustrated by James Hamilton. Seeking revenge after boy-genius Wally Kennewickett thwarted their previous plans (The Mesmer Menace), the evil Mesmers begin sabotaging the Kennewicketts' experiments. To put an end to the danger, the Kennewicketts, their staff of automatons, Nikola Tesla, and Noodles--the family dachshund and the book's narrator--board an airship for Europe to confront Iron Claw and Madini. A fast-paced steampunk adventure with humorous illustrations.

Reviewer: Randy Ribay

(3) 4-6 Candlewick Biographies series. Illustrated by Oliver Dominguez. This biography introduces an individual who knows what he wants to accomplish (an alternating current generator) but struggles to turn that idea into a tangible product. Stylized illustrations surround Tesla with scientific instruments while utility poles and wires crowd the New York City streets. The book's back matter is particularly strong. This is a "reformatted" edition of a picture book. Reading list, timeline. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014

(2) 4-6 Accelerati Trilogy series. Nick Slate (Tesla's Attic) believes he can keep an ominous asteroid at bay with Tesla's Far Range Energy Emitter--but to build it he must track down many odd gizmos he mistakenly sold at his garage sale. The quirky gadgetry from the first book returns in full force, and secondary characters feel more fleshed out. Humor and a strong narrative voice carry the day.

Reviewer: Sam Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2015

(2) 4-6 Accelerati Trilogy series. After his mother dies, fourteen-year-old Nick, his younger brother, and their father move into Great-aunt Greta's old house. The junk-filled attic includes items that were made by Nicola Tesla himself--and that have mysterious powers. A baseball glove with its own magnetic pull attracts the attention of shady scientists called the Accelerati. Likable Nick's strong narrative voice propels the well-paced story.

Reviewer: Sam Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(4) YA The crisp dialogue between Tweed and Nightingale (The Lazarus Machine), romantically entangled teenage secret Ministry agents, is this second volume's stand-out feature. A tangled mystery springing from Nikola Tesla's murder is set in a steampunk world filled with airships, deathrays, an unknown race dwelling below the earth, and plenty of action, albeit of the interesting rather than plausible sort.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Oliver Dominguez. The only biography about Tesla published for young readers introduces an individual who knows what he wants to accomplish (an alternating current generator) but struggles to turn that idea into a tangible product. Stylized illustrations surround Tesla with scientific instruments while utility poles and wires crowd the New York City streets. The book's back matter is particularly strong. Reading list. Bib.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014

(2) YA When Leo comes face-to-face with a miniature version of himself riding a miniature time machine, accompanied by a fascinating girl, a complex plot is put in motion involving time travel, Nikola Tesla, death rays, the New-York Circulating Material Repository (The Grimm Legacy), and jealous library pages. Leo's character, with his enquiring mind and technical know-how, will draw readers in to the science-fiction-made-real landscape.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2013

(4) YA Scientific Rivalries and Scandals series. In the years leading up the 1893 World's Fair, a bitter debate waged between Edison and Tesla, who was joined by George Westinghouse, regarding the use of AC and DC current. Competition, underhanded business practices, and public and political manipulation all came into play. Archival photographs, sidebars, and diagrams extend the narrative but contribute to a cramped design. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(2) YA Leviathan Trilogy series. Illustrated by Keith Thompson. In this satisfying trilogy ender (Leviathan, Behemoth), Alek and Deryn wrestle with their forbidden feelings for each other while trying to stop the war. Westerfeld has meticulously crafted his alternate history of World War I, bringing it to a hopeful if not entirely peaceful ending. Detailed black-and-white illustrations visually capture the book's crucial moments, steampunk machinery, and fabricated beasts.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2011

(4) 4-6 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).

Reviewer: Bethany Templeton Klem

(3) YA Worldweavers series. Recruited to help the Federal Bureau of Magic, Thea learns about her own special abilities as well as whom she can and cannot trust. Unlike the first two books, whose pace occasionally dragged, this final book in the trilogy is a fast-moving magical adventure about the meaning of friendship, the responsibilities of those with extraordinary power...and Elemental pigeons.

Reviewer: T. Borregaard

(4) YA Despite predictions of disaster by clairvoyants, narrator Jane finds herself a passenger on the Titanic, along with her four sisters. Science, history, spiritualism, and romance converge in Weyn's text. The story plods along through Jane's early years and her medium mother's spiritualist practices, but the pace slowly picks up, culminating in the sinking of the ship.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 Inventors Who Changed the World series. This series provides a basic overview of each subject's life and career, including successes as well as mistakes and controversies. The series' design features generally well-reproduced archival photos, stock images of varying usefulness, and distracting, cluttered screen shots. Some less-motivated readers will appreciate the publisher's enhanced website. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Inventors Who Changed the World titles: Alexander Graham Bell, Louis Pasteur, Marconi and Tesla, and Philo T. Farnsworth.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) YA Well-documented information about this inventor abounds in a readable volume. Aldrich covers Tesla's early life in Croatia, his academic brilliance and social awkwardness, his longterm battle with Thomas Edison over alternating current, his uneasy alliance with George Westinghouse, his chronic financial difficulties, and his personal idiosyncrasies. Photos and sidebars of explanation (not all clear) extend the text. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian