Clementine grabbed Nero’s arm as they tiptoed through the dark room. “Do you hear footsteps?”
Nero listened. “That’s not footsteps. That’s…slurping!”

When Nero and his family go to help their relatives harvest their top-secret genetically engineered house-sized vegetables, he expects to sleep in a pumpkin house. He doesn’t expect to be given rutabaga pie to eat. Isn’t a rutabaga a kind of turnip? Or to encounter vegetables with spikes, teeth and sword leaves, or a broccoli-headed alien that tries to buck him off its branch. He certainly doesn’t expect to find a Martian vegetable with a sliding front door, or a crawly, underground weapon about to devour the garden.

It’s a good thing he has his trusty Wonder-Gizmo along. It has an arrow, a claw tool with fold-out fingers, night-vision goggles, and a bug zapper. Even a coward can be brave with an awesome gadget like this. Until things go terribly wrong, and Nero has to confront his deepest fears all by himself. He will need all the courage he has, and lots more he doesn’t, to save the garden, and his family, from a slithery, slimy fate.

Ages 8-12 with STEM elements of aquifers, garden plants and pests, and themes of family, friendship lost and restored, courage and environment. Comes with Creative Writing Ideas for the classroom and a home-tested recipe for Twig’s Kohlrabi Chocolate Chip Cookies. Interior illustrations by Jolyn Michaelis.

Perfect for fans of “Bloom” (Kenneth Oppel), “Music for Tigers” (Michelle Kadarusman), “The Astounding Broccoli Boy” (Frank Cottrell Boyce) and “Beetle Boy” (M.G. Leonard).

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Read the first two chapters on this website.
Read the first 10% on Amazon (click on “Look Inside” above the cover image).
Read the first 5 chapters on Smashwords (click on your preferred format next to “First 20% Sample”)

Buy at these stores!

• Penny University Bookstore (in Regina)
• Our Little Bookshop (mail order)
• Amazon (Kindle and Paperback)
• Smashwords (ePub and many other e-book formats)
• Chapters-Indigo (ePub)
• Kobo (ePub)
• Apple Books (ePub)
• Barnes & Noble (ePub)
• Google Play Books (for your web browser, and other formats too)
• And others!

Activity and Coloring Book

Color all the illustrations from the book and do ten fun activities in the Giant Kohlrabi Coloring and Activity Book!

What People are Saying

I laughed so hard I fell off the couch!
~ Anne Patton, author of The Barr Colony Adventures

“Silly and sweet. Can’t go wrong with giant bugs!”
~ Jolyn Michaelis, Kohlrabi cover artist and illustrator (See more of her monstrous art on her portfolio.)

“… a fabulous and fast-paced story with a truly unique setting – a sometimes-sinister world of giant vegetables!”
~ Alison Lohans, award-winning author of over 26 books for young people

A top-secret experiment, a Wonder-Gizmo, and a slimy villain — this book has all the ingredients! Nero must battle giant veggies with teeth and swords, broccoli-headed aliens, and a host of oddball relatives to solve this mystery. It’s the perfect recipe for family fun! All with an actual recipe for healthy chocolate treats thrown in. Who could ask for more? ~ Marie Powell, author of Last of the Gifted

The Mystery of the Giant Kohlrabi is a fast-paced read sure to engage the attention of middle graders—even if they prefer not to eat their vegetables. Nero, not the bravest of souls, finds many challenges when he and his family visit Aunt Lotta and Uncle Peter’s huge vegetable operation. When I say “huge,” I mean the vegetables, which grow to the size of houses. Unfortunately, along with large vegetables, come giant pests—like giant caterpillars and slugs. With the help of his handy Wonder-Gizmo, as well as his sister Clementine and his rough-and-tumble cousins Fern and Twig, Nero learns how to dig deep to find the courage to act. He also discovers how to get along with family and friends—even when conflict arises. Sharon Plumb’s latest book is timely, funny, and—dare I say it?—delicious.
~ Maureen Ulrich, author of the #jessiemachockeyseries

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Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9918792-3-6
Kindle ISBN: 978-0-9918792-5-0
ePub ISBN: 978-0-9918792-4-3
Amazon eBook ASIN: B09JVP6JH6