ARCHIBALD FRISBY

Archibald is ``obsessed with all things scientific'' (he's been caught studying algebra at recess and has ``taken apart/every kitchen appliance:/they had given their lives/in the interest of science''). His desperate mom finally turns off his Mac and ``boots'' him away to camp. But though the venue is different, Archibald isn't; he's soon diagramming the weather, making a squirrel-driven Rube Goldberg of a pantograph with which to write home, and ``plotting the angle/of maximum distance'' of a baseball. The fun here is in the playful details: scientific terms deftly inserted into neatly fashioned verse and, especially, the author's witty illustrations of a cheerfully irrepressible kid recording and analyzing his way through every experience. Hooray for nerds! They have fun too, and what a rich and satisfying kind it can be. (Picture book. 5-10)