Jake goes to Riverview Middle School, where he is a lackluster student content with his C average. The school itself is also lackluster, and the principal, Mrs. Malvolio, is more concerned with letting it disintegrate so the property can be sold to her uncle for luxury condominiums. Jake's mother is an event planner at the Imperial Marquis Hotel, and when the two don't want to cook dinner, they take a bus and get banquet food from the hotel workers who know them. They are waiting for their dinner when Dr. Blackbridge is giving a talk on Ingetible Intelligence, and Jake eats a quantity of jelly beans. These were made by a graduate student named Farooqi who hoped to get Dr. Blackbridge's attention-- they were prototypes of nanoprogrammed capsules that make learning much easier. Suddenly, Jake is spitting out facts and even getting onto the school Quiz Bowl team. This is fine with him, because he has a huge crush on Grace Garcia. Her uncle is the school custodian, and also holds knowledge about a pirate treasure linked back to their family in Cuba. He's fired briefly by the principal, who hopes that the resulting chaos in the school will further its decline. Jake also finds himself being approached by the military to break codes, and the FBI, which brings him further notoriety but also undermines his position on the Quiz Bowl team when he is framed for cheating. Eventually, he and Grace decide to look for the pirate treasure and find themselves in a race against Principal Malvolio. Will Jake be able to use his new intelligence to save the day?
Strengths: Don't we all wish there was ingestible intelligence? Librarians would take book pills like vitamins! I thought the scientific explanations were really well done; almost had me believing that this could be real, and I was worried through the whole book that the effects would wear off like in Keyes' Flowers for Algernon (1966)! I enjoyed Grace, who was super smart and generally a great person to have on your side, and Kojo was a lot of fun, with his random quoting of 1970s spy television! The portrayal of a Quiz Bowl team was good to see. This was fast paced, humorous, and a lot of goofy fun.
Weaknesses: I wish we had seen more of Emma; there should be more siblings in middle grade lit. I wasn't a fan of Mrs. Malvolio; over the top villiany makes books seem unbelievable. A principal wouldn't have the authority to fire a custodian, and the school district would not close down a building and sell the land that quickly.
What I really think: This isn't my personal favorite because of the Mrs. Malvolio, but it has a great cover and title, and it is the type of humorous books that my students can't get enough of. Will definitely purchase.

What would you do if you ate a few jelly beans and suddenly became a genius? You could rattle off all sorts of facts you didn't know you knew. Would you want to give it back or keep it forever? These are the questions that are explored in The Smartest Kid in the Universe in Jake's life. Jake is a simple and average kid in his middle school. Until he eats those jelly beans. Now everyone expects quite a lot from him and he and his friends are tasked with finding an ancient buried treasure and saving the school from destruction!

Chris Grabenstein is a master of making a male main character who seems to be a typical average boy, realize the joys and satisfaction of applying himself. He makes being smart and reading books fun and cool instead of boring, as boys see it. I will continue to put his books in my library and recommend them to all the kids as long as he keeps writing fun, interesting, adventurous books, that have a great message!

Jake McQuade was just an average middle school student, trying to get by with expending the least amount of effort on his studies and still get passing grades. He much preferred spending his time wiping out zombies in a video game rather than trying to be outstanding at anything. All that changed when he unknowingly ate a jar full of experimental jelly beans and was suddenly infused with vast amounts of knowledge. Suddenly, Jake's brain was full of answers, and Jake was full of questions. What had happened to him? How did he know all of these incredible facts?

Jake's newfound brain power came at just the right time. The principal of his middle school, Mrs. Malvolio, was determined to get the school torn down for her own personal gain. Will Jake's abilities last long enough to save the school from destruction and to help his friends find the long lost legendary treasure buried in the caverns beneath the building? Find out in this humorous story of friendship and unlikely heroes. This excellent, entertaining middle grade book is a must-have for any elementary or middle school fiction collection.

Jake mistakenly eats jellybeans that are scientifically engineered to enhance knowledge. Instantly he turns from the universe's laziest kid to the smartest one. Adventures ensue, including helping the military and FBI, but most important to Jake and his friends are 1. Winning the state Quiz Bowl competition. 2. Finding pirate treasure buried underneath their school, and 3. Foiling the nefarious principal's plot to have the school torn down so it can be replaced with a luxury high-rise. A lot happens in the book, which actually had to give short shrift to the Quiz Bowl championship - otherwise it could have gone on a lot longer. It also comes complete with fun references to trivia, math, Spanish, and Telly Savalas and tv detective shows. Kids should find this a fun, lighthearted read.

Chris Grabenstein knows how to entertain middle grade students with terrific, light-hearted, and relatable reads. “Smartest Kid” is kind of a mash up of the genius part of “Max Einstein,” the light, almost magical sci fi of “Lemoncello” and “Island of Dr Libras” and the search for plunder in “Treasure Hunters” as Jake-the-Coasting-Through-Life middle schooler suddenly becomes brilliant after eating some scientifically manipulated jelly beans and must solve crime, save his school, and find lost pirate booty. The target age group is grades 4-6 and most all in that range will find something to like. There is action in evading the bad guys and searching for treasure, typical tween school drama for lovers of realistic fiction, and lots of random math and trivia for those who love to challenge their thinking. Even the so-called reluctant reader may get sucked into the fast-moving plot and find that getting to the end is not so difficult. Recommended with no content reservations. Thanks for the dARC, NetGalley.

My students are going to gobble this book up. Jake is known for being a slacker until he gobbles up jelly beans that make him the smartest kid in the universe. With his newfound genius comes responsibility and he is suddenly juggling being a kid, trying to save his school, helping the FBI, and finding buried pirate's treasure. This fast-paced book has adventure, humor, and a few puzzles to solve along the way.

This is an amusing read that will work well for middle-grade readers who are looking for a clever adventure story. (I've heard it's similar to Mr. Lemoncello's Library, also by this author, but I haven't read that one.) It starts with Jake, who is an average student who loves playing videogames, accidentally eating mysterious jellybeans that increase his intelligence, making him the "Smartest Kid in the Universe." He uses this newfound knowledge to try to impress a girl, ace his classes, and even help the President of the United States. Hilarity ensues.

Some of this is too far-fetched for realistic fiction; the villains are caricatures, and there are a few different threads in the narrative that don't always flow well (there's some realism, a mystery, a romance, and a swashbuckling pirate adventure at different points), but I think the book is humorous and light enough for it to work.

3-1/2 stars

Twelve-year old Jake is an average middle school student, who could probably do a little better than average if he were willing to exert just a little effort. But, after helping himself to some jelly beans that turn out to be a scientific breakthrough far ahead of its time, Jake suddenly becomes super smart. So smart, that the Pentagon and FBI both ask for his help. But his biggest challenge will be to stop his evil principal Mrs. Malvolio and save his school from being shut down, with the help of his friends Kojo and Grace, and some buried pirate treasure.

I LOVED "Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library", and looked forward to reading another book from the same author. While this book was quite as amazing and wonderful as Mr. Lemoncello's Library, it was a quick, fun read that middle-grade kids who like light-hearted adventure stories. Though, I really wish the story had ended with Jake somehow learning a lesson about the value of learning, and putting forth the effort to learn, and to do your best at whatever you do.

Jake McQuade has spent his school days just getting by by doing the least amount of work. His single mom works as the event coordinator for the big hotel downtown, and Jake, being lazy, has brought his little sister down to the hotel to grab a free dinner from the event staff rather than he going to the effort of microwaving a pizza for their dinner. While waiting for the wait staff to bring them food, Jake scarfs a small jar of jellybeans and this is where his adventure begins, What was in those jelly beans?
Chris Grabenstein has done it again, another fun adventure Elementary students will enjoy.
#TheSmartestKidintheUniverse #NetGalley #ARC

Grabenstein is a popular author of middle grade books that are usually about friends who wind up having to solve some kind of puzzle. The books are peppered with humor and often some fantastical elements. This book follows that formula. Main character Jake comes across as a little obnoxious and pretty lazy. Then he accidentally becomes 'the smartest kid in the universe" due to ingesting some jelly beans enhanced by a very absent-minded inventor. There are so many different references and trivia that the reader is fed as Jake makes his way with his new found genius. A best friend of color, a romantic interest who is also diverse, stereotypical bad guys and a pirate treasure needing to be found makes the book formulaic. Kids will enjoy it but there is nothing profound in the book and many really far-fetched situations such as Jake being asked to do special work for the Pentagon and later the FBI. The ending does leave the reader with the possibility that Jake might have further adventures. But always lurking in the background is just how long will his genius last? Throwing in the best friend's penchant for TV detectives of the 70's may seem foreign to young readers but may be a nod to what author is fond of. All in all, this is a light humorous read which is bogged down by random trivial facts and some annoying character bits (e.g. absent minded scientist) but will still be very appealing to most MG readers who are sure to pick this book up based on author name recognition and cover illustration alone.