The Weird Zone

Liz and her friends battle a prehistoric dinosaur with a craving for junk food Everyone knows W. Reid Elementary has the grossest lunches—and the strangest problems. When piles of junk food start disappearing from the school’s cellar, Liz Duffey and her friends brush it off as another unexplainable mystery of life in the Weird Zone—their nickname for the zany town of Grover’s Mill. But when a scaly beast bursts out from underneath the cafeteria, they realize that what they thought was a mystery is a real monster with major hunger pangs! The kids must stop the creature from eating their entire school—and everyone in it. Is there anything this animal won’t eat? Liz has an idea, but she may not have time to put her plan into action before becoming a meal herself!

Science fiction.

Think your town is weird? Step into Grover’s Mill—known to the local kids as the “Weird Zone”—from the award-winning author of the Secrets of Droon series. There’s no place like home. Seriously, there’s no place like the bizarre town of Grover’s Mill, home to friends Liz, Holly, Sean, Jeff, and Mike—but also to aliens, monsters, dinosaurs, giant robots, and a potato capable of mind control. It could have something to do with the location—in the middle of a triangle containing a secret UFO testing base, a dinosaur burial ground, and a cheesy horror movie studio. Whatever the reason, enter at your own risk . . . Zombie Surf Commandos from Mars!: When disgusting alien zombies start rising from the lake, Holly, Liz, and Jeff must escape—or their brains will become an afternoon snack. The Incredible Shrinking Kid!: After a blast of purple light zaps Holly’s brother, Sean—shrinking him to four inches—the friends need to make sure he doesn’t end up in an evil toy-store owner’s collection. The Beast from Beneath the Cafeteria!: Liz and her friends battle a dinosaur with a craving for junk food—and an appetite for destruction. Attack of the Alien Mole Invaders!: Not to make a mountain out of a molehill—but a colony of giant moles from outer space has tunneled under Grover’s Mill. With the help of a secret government invention, Jeff and Holly must stop them in their tracks. The Brain That Wouldn’t Obey!: Mike is sure he’s going to win the school science fair with his potato-powered radio, “Potadio.” But when his invention is electrocuted to life and takes over the minds of the teachers and students, it’s boy vs. spud. Gigantopus from Planet X!: When Sean and Holly must battle a gigantic robot octopus controlled by an evil alien, it sucks big-time. Cosmic Boy Versus Mezmo Head!: After an alien blasts Jeff with an X-ray on his way to audition for his school’s outer space version of The Wizard of Oz, his favorite childhood toy, a Cosmic Boy space helmet, gets stuck on his head. The space invader has his own mind-controlling Mezmo head helmet, and now the two will butt heads . . . or, uh, helmets. Revenge of the Tiki Men!: There’s no time to lounge around—huge Tiki heads with a grudge against Grover’s Mill are turning the town back into a jungle. It’s up to the kids to fend off a total disaster.

It’s time for the W. Reid Elementary science fair—home to the weirdest inventions ever, and a lot of trouble! Mike is sure he’s going to win the school science fair with his potato-powered radio, “Potadio.” But when his contraption is electrocuted to life, Mike suddenly has more to worry about than winning first prize. Potadio has a bad attitude, and he now controls the minds of the teachers and students. With his army of minions, Potadio plans to take over the world! Mike must figure out how to beat this spud before becoming a brain-dead zombie himself. Luckily, he has access to a science fair full of crazy inventions that just might help him defeat his creation!

Aliens are literally popping out of the ground, but luckily, Jeff and Holly have a few tricks up their sleeves Jeff Ryan and his friends want to play street hockey, but someone has stolen their puck. When the kids try to get it back, they discover the culprit is a giant mole from space. A colony of aliens has tunneled under Grover’s Mill, and they want to take over the town by killing the humans—starting with Jeff’s friends! With the help of a secret government invention, Jeff and Holly race to rescue the captives and defend their turf before the moles attack. But will they be too late to save the day?

Looks at some of the stranger sports played around the world, including skyaking, slamball, shovel racing, street luging, and underwater wrestling.