Day 26: The School for the Insanely Gifted by Dan Elish

Daphna is a genius. She composed her first sonata at the age of two, at eight her first opera. Daphna lives in a crazy one room apartment in New York City. All she has to do is push a button and the whole room transforms from a music room to living room to kitchen and then to a bedroom. This amazing apartment was designed by Daphna’s best friend at the School for the Insanely Gifted, a school for the smartest children. Daphna’s mom died in a plane crash several months before and she has tried to keep her life as normal as possible. When Mr. Blatt, the head of the school and a billionaire computer genius, announces the “Insanity Cup” competition things start to get out of hand. Daphna realizes that her mother discovered something and that her death might not have been an accident and all of this is somehow linked to Mr. Blatt, his inventions and the school that she loves. This book is crazy and over the top, the kids fly a car/ airplane to Africa, they invent amazing items like Gum-Top, chewing gum that allows you to connect to the internet using your mind. It is a creative, funny story with nutty characters and a really fun read. I would recommend this book for good third grade readers, fourth and fifth graders.