Get (Book) Smart

If your kid is rough on his schoolbooks, throwing them from locker to backpack to bedroom floor, you can wind up paying big bucks in fines at the end of the semester. Help protect his texts with Book Jax, cloth covers with hard plastic edges that prevent damage to corners and spines.

Cody and Mark Fox, brothers and high school seniors in Charlotte, NC, invented the stretchy fabric covers, which were featured on the PBS series Everyday Edisons. "I was once charged $130 in fees," confesses Mark, 18, "so we decided to come up with a solution." Book Jax ($6 each) are available in a range of six colors and patterns at most Staples stores.

-Laura Hahn