Aussie Chomps : Nicholas and the Chronoporter

Primary School Readers

Author: Rowley Monkfish, Cameron Rogers

Nicholas has a special belt that enables him to travel through time. But his teacher Mr Graves will do anything to get his hands on it. Soon Nicholas is involved in a time-hopping adventure, desperately trying to stop Mr Graves from taking over the world.

It was four in the morning and the birds were already warming up outside. In a couple of hours the sun was going to crest the trees, glare through Nicholas's window, and he'd have to go to school.

Nicholas was sitting at the worktable in his room, rushing to put the finishing touches on yet another science project. Tools were scattered across the benchtop – drills, pliers, tinsnips and wirecutters – and a dusty set of welding goggles was propped on his head. Behind him sat a welder, gas tanks and the ruin of a CAT scanner. It was one of those giant white machines hospitals use to get a better look inside patients, like a souped-up x-ray machine. He'd seen it over a year ago, when his mother went to hospital the first time.

John 'Bones' Jones, who worked at the hospital, had let slip they were throwing out the CAT scanner, and Nicholas had jumped at the chance. 'Uh, are you really sure you want this thing?' Bones had asked.

So, rather than driving the scanner to the disposal station, Bones had taken it to Nicholas's place. Nicholas's dad had helped him break it down in the backyard, and move all the bits Nicholas needed up to his room. His dad was pretty cool like that. So was Bones. Nicholas decided he'd have to do something really nice for him as a thank you.

Nicholas had been working all night. Nothing new in that. He worked like mad every single time. Yet it always played out the same way: No matter how revolutionary his science project was, Mr Graves would always fail him.

His dad didn't mind the noise. He'd helped Nicholas get the tools he needed for the project. Every now and then he even brought up sandwiches and cups of tea. Nicholas and his father had become much closer since his mother died.

As he worked, Nicholas remembered the last time he had to make something for class. Fargus Cartwright had entered an overweight rat as scientific proof that mice like cheese, and received a B. Nicholas had built a jumpsuit that allowed people to walk on walls, and Mr Graves had failed him. 'Being upside down will make people sick,' he'd said.

Nicholas couldn't win. Mr Graves didn't like him. Not at all. Nicholas could not understand why.

And yet Nicholas couldn't stop inventing. He just didn't have it in him to be ordinary. So he sighed, and slid the welding goggles down over his eyes. He fired up his father's welder and set about sealing his creation shut.

His room flashed white and blue as metal smoked and melted. Outside, the sun was creeping up his window.

ISBN: 9780143302001
ISBN-10: 0143302000
Number Of Pages: 108
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Dimensions (cm): 19.800 x 13.1
Weight (kg): 19.8
Audience: Children
Age Range:  10  Years Old