The Genius Experiment

August 1, 2018
A homeless genius orphan is recruited by one organization and hunted by another.Twelve-year-old orphan Max Einstein never knew her parents, is obsessed with Albert Einstein, lives in a squat above some Central Park stables alongside other good-natured down-on-their-luck types, and attends NYU using fabricated records. Her cozy existence is shattered when the powerful Dr. Zimm and the mysterious Corp target her. Luckily, she's swept off to Israel, where she meets a group of highly diverse, multicultural fellow child prodigies, the other "contestants" at the Change Makers Institute. (Max is white.) The CMI's testing them to find a visionary genius prodigy to lead world-improving projects, but Max has more interest in their aims than their tests. (While the book celebrates curiosity and learning, it also repeatedly rebukes standardized tests in favor of creativity and daydreams.) Max takes advantage of a chance to make friends her own age, while the Corp--with an alluded connection to Max's past--closes in on her. Once a winner's selected and a team formed, it's off to the Congo on a mission to bring solar power to a village in hopes of encouraging African investors in industries other than mining (which uses child laborers). Max's morality, love for humanity, and free spirit make a refreshing counter to the familiar computerlike, elitist genius archetype; evasion scenes bring thrills; problem-solving provides delightful role-modeling. The ending promises a sequel.A fun, positive book with plenty of heart. (Thriller. 8-12)

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October 22, 2018
Johnson’s wry sketch of the iconic photo of Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue, accompanied by his observation that “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” opens a lively and astute series launch by frequent collaborators Patterson and Grabenstein. Max Einstein, a homeless 12-year-old genius, knows nothing about her parents, her past, or the origins of her treasured suitcase filled with Albert Einstein memorabilia. The feisty girl’s infatuation with the scientist guides her critical problem-solving (“What would Einstein do?”) after she is kidnapped by thugs working for a greed-driven corporation and subsequently recruited by the rival Change Makers Institute, dedicated to eradicating global warming, poverty, war, and pandemic disease. Eight other whiz kids competing to become the group’s “instrument of change,” a cunning double agent, and the good guys’ surprising benefactor add to the story’s intrigue, which illuminates present-day applications of Einstein’s scientific theories as well as the wisdom of his humanitarian tenets (“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile”). Sprinting from Manhattan to Israel to the Congo, the story is an entertaining and thoughtful exploration of perseverance, friendship, creativity, and identity. Ages 9–12.

ochaco_uraraka - It was just great. A poor squatter genius named Max idolizes Albert Einstein. She does not know anything about herself aside from her name. She goes to College in New York, and some agents named Charl and Isabl take her to the CMI, in Jerusalem, to compete in a contest. The contestants are the eight smartest children in the world. Max is very uncomfortable, because she never had any friends her age. But she becomes deeply attached to some of the children there. They take the first exam, and Max barely answered any of them. She decided to just quote Albert Einstein. Charl and Isabl asked her why she answered nothing, and she just replied, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Isable chose to fire back, "Is that why you showed very little knowledge on this test?" Max told them that they shouldn't have the smartest kids in the world cooped up in exam rooms shading circles, they should let their creativity flow with a tour around Jerusalem. Charl and Isabl agreed, and they took a guard named Yahav with them. An incident happened when Max and her friend got separated from the group. They finally found each other, and Yahav said they just got a little lost. They started to be suspicious to Yahav now. Yahav was actually a henchman working for the Corp, the bad guys. He put a tracker on Max Einstein to know where she was. The day of the second test came, and it had a time limit of eight hours. Max finished in twenty minutes, by just answering the last two questions. Charl and Isabl again questioned her on why she only answered the last two questions. She said that the last two questions were like a shorter version of the rest of the questions. When the day of the judging came, Max won, naturally. She would have to go on the field and work with a bunch of grown ups. She requested that she'll be able to work with the kids she had grown so close to. They picked a project and began working on it. What happened next? Well, that's for you to find out.