My Explosive Diary
My Explosive Diary
Gale, Emily
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Publisher's Hardcover ©2014--
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Aladdin
Just the Series: Eliza Boom Vol. 1   

Series and Publisher: Eliza Boom   

Annotation: Eliza Boom is the daughter of a spy gadget inventor who hopes to create a great invention like her father, but first she needs to get a roll of her father's top-secret film back from the class bully Zoe Wakefield.
Genre: [Suspense fiction] [Adventure fiction]
 
Reviews: 2
Catalog Number: #82652
Format: Publisher's Hardcover
Special Formats: Chapter Book Chapter Book
Common Core/STEAM: STEAM STEAM Common Core Common Core
Publisher: Aladdin
Copyright Date: 2014
Edition Date: 2014 Release Date: 07/15/14
Illustrator: Dreidemy, Joelle,
Pages: 123 pages
ISBN: 1-481-40650-7
ISBN 13: 978-1-481-40650-5
Dewey: Fic
LCCN: 2013956389
Dimensions: 22 cm.
Subject Heading:
Inventors. Juvenile fiction.
Bullies. Juvenile fiction.
Spy stories.
Inventors. Fiction.
Bullies. Fiction.
Intelligence service. Fiction.
Language: English
Reviews:
Horn Book (Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

When Eliza Boom, misunderstood inventor- and spy-in-training, accidentally gives away her spy-gadget-inventor dad's top-secret film strip, Eliza, her dog Einstein, and her friend/"assistant" Amy brainstorm ways to get it back. The childlike black-and-white drawings and sidebar commentary lend believability to the diary format, but the plot of this silly first series entry is a little unfocused.

School Library Journal (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Gr 2-5 Eliza Boom is a quirky young inventor who spends her days constructing gadgets with her best friend and dog, Einstein. Eliza takes after her father, also an inventor, whom she believes is employed by spies. Her father flies into a panic when he realizes a strip of top-secret spy film is lost. Eliza, mistaking the film for a ribbon, gave it to the class bully, Zoe. Through a series of zany plans involving gadgets, Eliza attempts to recover her dad's missing film. The book contains lessons on dealing with bullying. Eliza first tries to extend kindness toward Zoe, but her efforts are rejected. Ultimately, Eliza befriends Amy, another of Zoe's victims. The two discover they have a lot in common and become close friends, demonstrating that there often is help available to those dealing with a bully. Written in diary form, each chapter represents a different entry. Pencil drawings enhance the story and add to the whimsical feel of the book. Eliza has a fun voice that will appeal to newly independent readers. Tiffany Davis, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY

Reviewing Agencies: - Find Other Reviewed Titles
Horn Book (Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)
School Library Journal (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)
Word Count: 5,629
Reading Level: 4.3
Interest Level: 1-4
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 4.3 / points: 1.0 / quiz: 169338 / grade: Lower Grades
Reading Counts!: reading level:3.8 / points:4.0 / quiz:Q62777
Lexile: 660L
My Explosive Diary

Saturday Night

My Lab, 7 p.m.


Dear Diary,

We’ve been banished to the lab FOREVER. You’ll understand why when I tell you about my latest invention.



It was Invention 92: the Super-Sneaky Spy-Cam Collar.



This is what happened to it.



Don’t worry, Einstein wasn’t wearing it at the time.

Dad says that before every good invention there are 99 not-so-good ones. That was number 92. I’m SO CLOSE, Diary.

Everyone in my family had the grumps after the explosion.



Einstein is the only one who has forgiven me.

He understands me even if no one else does.

This is him.



I named him Einstein after the real Einstein, who was a scientist. But he’s dead now. Not my dog—the scientist.

Do you know what hurt the most? It was what Dad said:



He knows I don’t have a bedroom. I have a LAB. Bedrooms are just for sleeping in. I’m too busy inventing to sleep!

Dad has a lab too, only his is disguised as a garden shed.



Dad is a fully qualified inventor who makes gadgets for spies, and I’m his assistant. I like being an assistant inventor, but one day I’d actually like to be a SPY, too. I mean, why should someone ELSE get to have all the fun with MY inventions?

Speaking of inventions, how did my Super-Sneaky Spy-Cam Collar go so wrong? It would have been PERFECT for tracking down where Einstein buries our things . . .



 . . . like Alice’s shoes,



 . . . Plum’s toys,



 . . . and even Dad’s tools from his tool belt.



I showed Alice my invention yesterday before it exploded. She should have been super-impressed, but she barely looked at it. That was very non-super of her.



No one cares about any of my inventions—especially Alice. All she cares about is her garden. That’s why she confiscated Invention 91: the Spy Rocket that I invented last week. She just doesn’t understand me or my inventions.



My plan was to make Einstein wear his Super- Sneaky Spy-Cam Collar, and then I’d watch the film to see where his secret stash was buried.

But when I connected the Super-Sneaky Spy-Cam to the telecommunication system (the TV) via the electric current carrier (the TV cable), and put on our flying particle protectors (goggles) . . . well, you know what happened:



And that brings us back to right now.



I’m desperate to come up with an even better invention. That’s why we’re upside down—it helps you think. It also makes your hair grow, which is probably why we both have big, fuzzy hairstyles.

Thinking . . . thinking . . . I just know something will come to me soon.

Yours inventively,

Eliza Boom

Inventor-in-Training

P.S. Since I’m writing my inventions in your pages, Diary, you should have a scientific name, too.



Edison invented this:


Excerpted from My Explosive Diary by Emily Gale
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Meet Eliza Boom—assistant inventor, junior spy, and full-on fantastic—as she tells all in this first book of a chapter book series packed with jokes, doodles, and dear-diary secrets!

Eliza Boom is having a blast. Her father is an inventor who makes gadgets for spies, and Eliza is his unofficial assistant…very unofficial.

Eliza knows if she can just build that one indispensable thing that every secret agent needs, she can be a full-fledged spy herself, but somehow her inventions keep going wrong. Still, with her best friend (well, dog), Einstein, she’s not going to give up.

When Eliza’s father loses a top-secret roll of film, Eliza realizes that she might have accidentally given it to class bully Zoe Wakefield, the Queen of Mean. Eliza’s got to retrieve the film, which Zoe is using as a hair bow, before enemy spies get to it. Luckily she’s got Einstein as well as her own brand-new assistant (and friend), Amy, to help her.

Can these three would-be 007s get the film, stop the spies, and get revenge on the class bully? There’s only one way to find out—and that’s to read Eliza’s diary!

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