N.E.R.D.S. is a children's pentalogy written by Michael Buckley and illustrated by Ethen Beavers. The series tells the story of a fictional spy agency and its agents—children who have their "nerdy" characteristics upgraded into a tool that they can use to fight crime. The series includes five books, each told from a different agent's perspective. The series lasted from 2009 to 2013. As of 2022, an animated show based on the series is in development with Lisa Zusmer DelPrete, DelZus Productions LLC.

Overview

The book series centers around National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society, or N.E.R.D.S., a spy agency that contains children with considerably "nerdy" upgrades. It is mentioned that all N.E.R.D.S. are automatically retired when they turn eighteen, which is the legal consent age for adults. The headquarters is located in Arlington, Virginia in Nathan Hale Elementary in the first three books and Thomas Knowlton Middle School in the last two books.

Books

Characters

Current agents

Other agents

Antagonists

Other characters

Plot synopses

N.E.R.D.S.: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society (2009)

Dr. Jigsaw and Simon or Heathcliff "Choppers" hatches a plot to change the surface of the earth. Newly recruited Jackson "Braceface" and the rest of the N.E.R.D.S. have to stop him before it is too late.

N.E.R.D.S.: M is for Mama's Boy (2010)

Duncan "Gluestick " Dewey and the rest of the team are going up against rogue agent Heathcliff "Choppers" Hodges, computer genius Albert, and an army of squirrels who are planning to sterilize worldwide computers. Things get more complicated when the team are stripped of their powers and have to rely on their resources to save the day.

N.E.R.D.S.: The Cheerleaders of Doom (2011)

When a device that can warp through alternate dimensions is built by cheerleader and former N.E.R.D.S. member Gerdie "Mathlete" Baker, Matilda "Wheezer" Choi, who has a hatred for anything girly must set that aside to infiltrate a cheerleading camp and root out Gerdie before worlds collide. In the end Gerdie gets trapped in the multiverse when Heathcliff tries to take over the world.

N.E.R.D.S.: The Villain Virus (2012)

A deadly virus that turns people into villains spreads through Arlington, and Julio "Flinch" Escala, who is immune, must lead the team into stopping the virus while former goon Dumb Vinci has an agenda of his own. A virus is spread around the country and normal people are going berserk.

N.E.R.D.S.: Attack of the Bullies (2013)

Miss Holiday, who is now the evil Miss Information, has assembled her own team of kids with their own super nanobyte upgrades, naming them the Brotherhood of Unstoppable Liars, Lowlifes, and Intimidating Enemies of Society (aka the B.U.L.L.I.E.S.), who plan to go back in time and prevent N.E.R.D.S. from ever existing. Ruby "Pufferfish" Peet's teammates begin to vanish one by one, and she enlists Agent Brand and Heathcliff Hodges to go back to the 1970s and help the original nerdy secret agents make sure that the future is not erased from existence. The book ends with Miss Holiday becoming good again after fixing the timeline and in the first edition of the book a peek at mathlete saving the world from aliens but then getting captured.

Film

In January 2012 it was reported that Elton John's Rocket Pictures had acquired film rights to the series, to produce an animated family feature film. The film will be scripted by the series' creator, Michael Buckley, produced by Steve Hamilton Shaw and David Furnish, and executively produced by Elton John. As of 2024, however, there are no updates reported for the film.