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The Mesmer Menace (1) (Gadgets and Gears)
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About The Mesmer Menace
Product Description Welcome to the Amazing Automated Inn, home of twelve-year-old inventor Wally Kennewickett, his genius scientist parents, and his dashing dog, Noodles. From the lightning harvester on the roof to the labs full of experiments in the dungeon, the inn is a wonderful place for a curious boy and his loyal dog to live. That is, until President Theodore Roosevelt himself calls the elder Kennewicketts away, leaving Wally and Noodles to face the evil Mesmers, horrible hypnotists bent on controlling the minds of powerful people. It seems the inn is their first stop on the way to world domination . . . and only an ingenious boy, a staff of automatons, and a brave dachshund stand in their way! Review A Winter 2013-14 Kids' Indie Next List pick "Fast paced and funny, with plenty of alliteration and word definitions provided by Noodles, it carries hints of both Lemony Snicket's wordplay and the absurdity of M. T. Anderson's Pals in Peril series. . . . Young, precocious readers and older readers looking for a shorter read will enjoy this first title in the Gadgets and Gears series." —Booklist "[An] auspicious first book. . . . Hamilton makes the comedic most of her premise. . . . Noodles's antics and droll, mannered narration make him the indisputable star of this show." —Publishers Weekly "Steampunk with training wheels for the chapter book set. . . . Sly humor . . . nifty, gear-laden illustrations . . . [an] imaginative, engaging premise." —Kirkus Reviews About the Author Kersten Hamilton is the author of several picture books and many novels, including the middle grade Gadgets and Gears series and the critically acclaimed YA trilogy The Goblin Wars. She splits her time between her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and her farm in Kentucky. For more about Kersten, please visit www.kerstenhamilton.com. James Hamilton is an artist and designer who lives in San Mateo, California. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 1 Danger. I should have smelled it. Mayhem, most feathered and fowl, was coming. I should have smelled it. But I didn’t. I smelled bacon and sausage, eggs and waffles, toast and tea—the scents we awoke to every morning at the Kennewicketts’ Amazing Automated Inn. My name is Noodles. I’m a dachshund. On Saturday, October 19, 1902, the day the Great Mesmer War began, I was sitting on Wally Kennewickett’s lap in the lobby as he perused the pages of an old Scientific American. Wally was reading an article about Percy Pilcher’s last flight in his man-size glider the Hawk. “Pilcher had built a powered plane, Noodles,” Wally said, “but a mechanical malfunction forced him to fly the Hawk that fateful morning instead.” You learn a lot of interesting phrases living with the Kennewicketts. Phrases like mechanical malfunction, retractable rail cannon, and flee for your life were used quite frequently around the Inn. “I wish they’d published Pilcher’s blueprints for the powered plane!” Wally went on. I licked his ear. Manned, powered, and controlled flight in a contraption that was heavier than air was an achievement that had thus far eluded the world’s most courageous adventurers and intelligent engineers. It was Wally Kennewickett’s dream to be the first to achieve it. I did not approve. Flight was far too dangerous. Percy Pilcher’s perilous pursuit had ended when the Hawk’s tail failed and Percy plunged to his death.Wally took his journal from his pocket. He noted, Tail failure may cause tragedy. I was pondering the profundity of this observation when destiny knocked on the door. Wally tucked his journal back in his pocket, set me on the couch, and stood up to answer it. I barked. “Jump, boy!” Wally said. “You can do it!” My wagger went wild. It always does when Wally says “You can do it.” But wagging wouldn’t get me to the floor. There are things that nature never intended a dachshund to do. Flinging oneself off a couch is certainly on the li
