Book details
Jeff Miller - Author
Expect a fast-moving space adventure: a stolen spacecraft and possible asteroid catastrophe send Neil and his gaming friends on a rescue mission, with comic banter alongside the peril.
"Out of this world! Neil Andertol never thought playing video games would make him a real-life hero. But then his favorite game, Chameleon, turned out to be the training simulator for an actual fighter jet, and Neil and the eleven other high scorers of the game were recruited to fly a top-secret rescue mission for the United States Air Force. Now it's been four months since Neil and his friends saved the planet, and the thirteen-year-old supernerd is back to playing video games... except that after piloting the real thing, he finds that even Chameleon has lost its spark. So when NASA begs for Neil's help, he says yes in a nanosecond. This time, rescuing humankind means heading into outer space. A supersecret spacecraft has been stolen, and NASA needs the best pilots in the universe to get it back--the Nerdy Dozen. It's a race against time to stop an earth-shattering disaster. Can the twelve geeks save the day again--or will it be game over?"--Jacket.
Book Analysis
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Sign in for personalised guidanceHow the book presents it: The book presents this favourably.
Talk about: Which of Neil's choices seems most helpful to the people or creatures around him?
How the book presents it: The story is presented as a space farce, using silly antics and fast-moving adventure rather than credible astrophysics.
Talk about: How does the comic tone affect the way you experience the danger in the mission?
The story pairs high-stakes action with a protagonist who gets opportunities to show leadership, including befriending a hostile chimp and helping save a planet.
The plot includes a threat to Earth and a dramatic rescue, but the comic tone and silly antics sit alongside these high-stakes events.
If the returning characters take a little while to place, what helps you understand who they are and how they work together?
If this is your first Nerdy Dozen book, consider starting together and briefly tracking the returning characters; then let the reader take the lead through the comic action.
Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.
Close encounters of the nerd kind by Jeff Miller | Open Library
Limited information
Checked: 1 October 2026.
Relevant to: General book context
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE NERD KIND
Limited information
Checked: 1 October 2026.
Relevant to: Leadership amid comic space peril; Comic space-adventure structure
Benefits, discussion questions and reading approaches are suggestions. Your knowledge of your child remains part of the decision.
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