''Science Fair'' (2008) is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...

and Ridley Pearson.''Science Fair'' at Amazon
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Plot summary

5 years or so before the book's main plot, a Krpshtskani singer named Gmygmy is disgraced by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

public because his vocals sound like a dying horse. This enrages the Krpshtskanis, who live in a fictional impoverished country about the size of

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. Grdankl the Strong, president of Krpshtskan and Gmygmy's father, decides to exact revenge by sending his other son, Prmkt, to the US to disrupt their

electrical grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

. Prmkt applies for a job as a janitor at Hubble Middle School, a prestigious

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

in southern Maryland that hosts an annual science fair with a cash prize for the winner. Prmkt secretly sends notes to the Manor Estates (ME) kids, children of rich government officials who win the science fair every year by going to a store in the local mall called the Science Nook, where the owner, Neil Sternabite, secretly builds their projects for a fee. Prmkt's note says that for a fee, he will give the ME kids blueprints to build technical items for the science fair. Meanwhile, Toby Harbinger, a kid attending Hubble Middle School, decides to investigate the cheating at his school to catch the ME kids, who routinely bully him. He learns about their yearly scheme and confronts the principal of his school (nicknamed the Hornet because the students find her scary). However, he is unable to prove anything, and suspended because Prmkt frames him for cheating to get him out of the way. Sternabite reveals to Toby that he is having second thoughts about this year's projects for the ME kids because of a suspicion he has about the combination of the projects. Toby and his two friends Micah and Tamara get sent to jail after Prmkt blackmails them, as well as two men Grdankl the Strong sent to "help", Drmtsi and Vrsk. Toby and his friends escape in a Weinermobile to Hubble where they arrive just in time stop Prmkt's plan. Fester the frog plays a key role in taking down Prmkt. Prmkt later is forced to work for the FBI.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Science Fair (Novel) 2008 American novels 2008 children's books American children's novels Collaborative novels Novels set in elementary and primary schools Novels set in high schools and secondary schools Novels set in Maryland Children's books set in Maryland Children's novels set in schools