Top Secret by John Reynolds Gardiner

Science Fiction
3rd, 4th, or 5th Grade

Allen Brewster knew he was smart enough to be an inventor. When it came time for the science fair Ms. Green announced to her class that it was important that this year one of her students won the silver trophy and that she was named best science teacher. Allen knew he had the idea that would do this; he would create human photosynthesis. Of course, the idea did not go over well with Ms. Green and she was quick to assign Allen to do a project on lipstick. For any child this would be discouraging and especially when you tell your parents what happened and they to do not believe in your idea. However, one person did believe and that person happened to be Allen's Grandpop. He encouraged Allen to go through with his idea because any great inventor and scientist was once a child.

When Allen begin his research he discovered that it was possible for him to create human photosynthesis. He made many recipes of drinks he could drink until he found one that made him no longer hungry. Allen drank the recipe and became a human plant. His skin turned green, he found himself always thirsty, and the sunlight gave him energy. When he told his parents and teacher about his discovery they immediately thought he was crazy and referred him to a psychiatrist. Allen became frustrated with this and decided he would write a letter to the president about his discovery. The president was intrigued by his discovery and immediately started doing testing on Allen. Scientist and doctors discovered that Allen was a human plant and that he had in fact created human photosynthesis.

This idea made the president nervous so he decided to mark Allen's discovery as top secret. If everyone found out that there was a way to keep themselves from being hungry they would no longer need food and this would cause a problem for the economy. So, the president immediately ordered for Allen to take a pill to make him human again and made him promise never to reveal his secret.

Because of this top secret project Allen could not use his invention in the science fair, so he had to end up turning in a lipstick project made by the president. The lipstick project was magnificent and indeed won the silver trophy. But, Allen still wanted to prove to his teacher that his invention had worked. To do this he figured out how to put his recipe in a lipstick that he had his teacher sample. He immediately took his teacher outside, where they could be alone, to show her how her skin was turning green. He proved to her that human photosynthesis was possible. The book ends with Ms. Green being swept away by two men in suits. The author ends the book in a way that allows the reader to try to figure out for themselves what happened to Ms. Green.


I will read this book to my students before the science fair. I think it will be a fun way to introduce the fair to the students and get them excited about creating a project that is a new idea. So often students feel limited as to what type of project they can do and I want to encourage them to think outside of the box just like Allen did.