Genius Squad, by Catherine Jinks

Genius squad is the sequel to Evil genius by Catherine Jinks. It continues the story of the young Cadel Piggott whose father had tried to turn him into an evil genius in the first book. Genius squad sees Cadel join the forces of good. Sort of. With Cadel’s father in custody, he finds himself in a less than ideal foster home constantly tormented by his foster brother. Then comes the chance to move to Clearview House, the cover for Genius Squad: a crack team of genius’ (genii?) with a secret mission and lots of nice computers.

He was still worried about visiting the place. Though he and Sonja had spent hours discussing Trader’s proposition, he couldn’t help feeling that they had made the wrong choice – simply because it was the obvious one to make. Why not choose Clearview House? It was full of like-minded people and cutting-edge technology. It was frequented by Com’s sister, who might have some idea of her brother’s whereabouts. Best of all, it came with a salary. Fifty thousand dollars for three months’ work! And five thousand per month after that. How could anyone with even half a brain turn down such an offer?

So Cadel joins Genius Squad. He also gets to know Saul Greeniaus, the police officer charged with protecting him in case Cadel’s father should ever try to harm him. With an oddball bunch of genius kids, some adults with unclear motives, and the ever-present threat of Cadel’s evil father, this is a good follow up to Evil genius.

Like most sequels, I don’t know that it is quite as good as the first book, but that is no reason to ignore it. It is a very good book in its own right and if you enjoyed the first installment, I’m sure you’ll like this one. You could probably get away with reading this one first if you really wanted to, but I’d suggest you grab Evil genius first. I have listed it as a young adult book and it is in the teen section in our library, but I feel it would also be a good book for the upper end of junior as well, maybe 11 to 12 year olds as well as teenagers.