Book excerpt: This middle-grade mystery follows the adventures of a boy with an experimental brain implant, and a reclusive girl training to be a spy, as they′re pitted against school bullies, their own parents, and an evil, brain-hacking corporation. Perfect for fans of Stranger Things. Trex’s experimental brain implant saved his life—but it also made his life a lot harder. Now he shocks everything he touches. When his overprotective mother finally agrees to send him to a real school for sixth grade, Trex is determined to fit in. He wasn’t counting on Mellie the Mouse. She lives in the creepiest house in Hopewell Hill, where she spends her time scowling, lurking, ignoring bullies, and training to be a spy. Mellie is convinced she saw lightning shoot from Trex’s fingertips, and she is Very Suspicious. And she should be . . . but not of Trex. Someone mysterious is lurking in the shadows . . . someone who knows a dangerous secret.