The Odd Inventions of Nikola Smalls

THE ODD INVENTIONS OF NIKOLA SMALLS is upper MG speculative, 48,000 words, with the humor and smart protagonists of Hypergifted by Gordan Korman and Leo, Inventor Extraordinaire by Luke Cunningham.

In the year 2126, two corporations control the world. All aspects of life revolve around money. Commercials are playing everywhere, on the walls inside people’s houses, even on cats and dogs. And kids have jobs. 12-year-old Nikola works as a physicist, when he’s not busy daydreaming.

The corps compete against each other, and everyone else suffers the consequences. G Corp bans F Corp subscribers from buying underwear, so F retaliates by banning G subscribers from buying soap. Nikola, who has autism and OCD, is afraid to speak out, but with his wild imagination and gift for creating oddball inventions he always manages to get the last laugh. He also has the help of his best friend, fearless and fun, but very messy, Valuptua.

Nik’s dream is to escape the pressure of work quotas by making a scientific breakthrough. His big chance comes when he discovers karma particles, a force of nature that maintains the balance between good and evil.

But fighting between the corps escalates, and life grows increasingly impossible. They start blasting commercials at deafening volumes (Nik hates loud noises) and rigging the traffic lights to cause accidents. All out war breaks out with millions of wacky machines battling each other. In order to escape killer bots, Val is going to have to learn anger management, and Nik is going to have to find the courage to disobey.