Phineas L. MacGuire... Erupts! - by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Fake names, weird collections, competition with a really smart girl, and some pretty cool science.  This book has all of this and more!  I'd put off reading this for a while because it looked kind of silly, but boy was I wrong.  It's a great book!  The writing really pulls you in and gets you caring about these characters, with plenty of funny little twists to hold your interest.  The story is a good one, and this should be a good series.

Phineas is a pretty cool kid, and an interesting main character.  Read this stories if you like science, school stories, authors who seem to get what it's like to be a kid, and series books.