The Nerdy Dozen

Neil Andertol has never thought about being a hero.

...At least not in real life. He’s always left the princess-freeing, monster-fighting, and village-saving up to the characters he plays in video games. His favorite game is piloting a superstealth fighter jet—that can go invisible—under the handle ManofNeil. Yet while ManofNeil can take out a whole squadron of enemy planes without breaking a sweat, regular Neil still gets picked on by the class bully. But that’s all about to change.

It turns out the video game was an Air Force simulator for a real superstealth jet that just went down, carrying the only two pilots who knew how to fly it. Backed into a corner, the military is forced to call in for reinforcements, but Neil and a ragtag bunch of middle-grade video-gaming whizzes who accidentally downloaded the classified training software are the only ones with enough hours logged to complete the rescue mission. They may not get picked first in gym class, but the nerds are reporting for duty, and they’re about to make history!

Part action movie, part slapstick comedy, author Jeff Miller’s debut novel, The Nerdy Dozen, is a madcap adventure for the middle grade set.