A top-secret experiment, a Wonder-Gizmo, and a slimy villain — this book has all the ingredients! Nero must battle giant veggies with teeth and swords, broccoli-headed aliens, and a host of oddball relatives to solve this mystery. It’s the perfect recipe for family fun! All with an actual recipe for healthy chocolate treats thrown in. Who could ask for more? ~ Marie Powell, author of Last of the Gifted

“Silly and sweet. Can’t go wrong with giant bugs!”
~ Jolyn Michaelis, Kohlrabi cover artist and illustrator (See more of her monstrous art on her portfolio.)

Clementine grabbed Nero’s arm as they tiptoed through the dark room. “Do you hear footsteps?”
Nero listened. “That’s not footsteps. That’s…slurping!”

When Nero and his family go to help their relatives harvest their top-secret genetically engineered house-sized vegetables, he expects to sleep in a pumpkin house. He doesn’t expect to have to eat rutabaga pie. Isn’t a rutabaga a kind of turnip? Or to encounter vegetables with weapons, or a hidden elevator, or a creepy, crawly foe about to destroy the garden.

It’s a good thing he has his trusty Wonder-Gizmo along. It has an arrow, a claw tool with fold-out fingers, night-vision goggles, and a bug zapper. Even a coward can be brave with an awesome gadget like this. Until things go terribly wrong, and Nero has to confront his deepest fears all by himself. He will need all the courage he has, and lots more he doesn’t, to save the garden, and his family, from a slithery, slimy fate.

Ages 8-12 with STEM elements of aquifers, garden plants and pests, and themes of family, friendship lost and restored, courage and environment. Comes with Creative Writing Ideas for the classroom and a home-tested recipe for Twig’s Kohlrabi Chocolate Chip Cookies. Interior illustrations by Jolyn Michaelis.

Perfect for fans of “Bloom” (Kenneth Oppel), “Music for Tigers” (Michelle Kadarusman), “The Astounding Broccoli Boy” (Frank Cottrell Boyce) and “Beetle Boy” (M.G. Leonard).