experiments

The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller

| Tasha

The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller

The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller (9781524715663)

With Mr. Neely as her very enthusiastic science teacher, Natalie can’t get out of asking a scientific question and exploring it using the scientific method. But Natalie would much rather get answers about her family, about why her mother won’t leave her bedroom anymore and how her father can stop being in therapist mode all the time. So when Mr. Neely encourages Natalie to compete in an egg drop competition, she knows that if they can win, things will change. Natalie’s best friend Twig is on their team, offering creative solutions for the egg drop and they also become friends with the new kid, Dari. As the three become closer, Natalie continues to try to figure out how to help her mother, putting together a plan for the prize money that they hope to win that will inspire her mother and get her back to normal. But life doesn’t always go to plan and neither do science experiments as Natalie soon discovers.

Keller writes with a lovely mix of humor and science throughout this novel. She looks directly at the subject of a parent’s chronic depression and shows the impact of that on a child and a family. Natalie steadily learns to find her voice in the novel and express her own pain about the situation. Science is used throughout the novel as a bridge between people, a way forward and a solution to problems.

Natalie as a character is beautifully conflicted. While she yearns to have her mother back she is also very angry about the situation, something that she has trouble expressing. Even with the friends she has, she worries about Dari joining her and Twig at various times particularly as Twig and Dari seem to have a special connection with one another. None of this is overly dramatized, but feels natural and emerges as convincing times of emotional stress.

Smartly written and filled with glowing characters living complicated lives, this middle grade novel unbreakable. Appropriate for ages 9-13.

(Reviewed from copy provided by Random House Children’s Books.)

Review: 11 Experiments That Failed by Jenny Offill

| Tasha

11 experiments that failed

11 Experiments That Failed by Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter

A series of experiments take place in this book, each one funnier than the next.  They attempt to answer questions like: Can a kid make it through the winter eating only snow and ketchup?  Do dogs like to be covered in glitter?  Will a piece of bologna fly like a Frisbee?  The only way to find out is for the protagonist to test it scientifically.  That means trying to eat only ketchup and snow and observing the results.  Sprinkling her dog with glitter to see what happens.  Testing flight capabilities of bologna in the lunchroom of school.  All of the experiments have a question, a hypothesis, instructions, and results.  Budding scientists are sure to find plenty to laugh along with in this book, along with new ideas for experiments of their own.

This very funny book and also great fun to share.  The book design plays a big role in the fun.  Since the results are after a page turn, we enjoyed guessing what the results of the experiments would be.  Each experiment is unique, silly and entirely engaging.  The other winning part of the book is that this is a girl doing science, wearing her pink goggles and gloves, and her lab coat. 

The illustrations add to appeal.  The collage illustrations mix photographs and drawing.  They are quirky, colorful and glorious.

Get this one in the hands of science teachers who are teaching the scientific process.  Young scientists will also love it as well as any kid who enjoys silliness in their books.  But beware of flying bologna!  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade Books.

Also reviewed by Pink Me and Young Readers.

Half Brother: Stole My Whole Heart

| Tasha

Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel

In 1973, thirteen-year-old Ben moves with his family to Victoria from Toronto.  He not only has to deal with leaving his friends behind and moving to a new city and climate, but he has a new little brother.  His new “brother” Zan is a chimpanzee, taken from its mother when it was only days old and brought to Ben’s house to be part of an experiment conducted by both of his parents in whether chimps can learn language and how being raised as a human child will affect him.  At first, Ben is caught up in his own teen concerns: a pretty girl and how to be an alpha male in his new school.  But slowly he warms to Zan and eventually grows to consider him a real sibling.  As Zan learns to sign and communicate, the divisions between his parents’ two approaches become magnified and their approaches to parenting Ben as well.  All too soon, Ben is forced to confront the truth about the experiment and its result.  The question will be answered, what kind of brother will Ben be to Zan?

Oppel really had his work cut out for him here.  Bring the 1970s to life with all of its unique perspectives and style plus write a convincing teen boy character and finally create an animal character that rings true.  And he manages it all with great style.  The time period is deftly created from small touches, never hitting readers over the head with it.  Ben is a boy who is easily related to by readers.  He struggles in school, would rather be with his friends or outdoors, and has a big crush on a girl.  At the same time, he makes classic mistakes with the girl, frustrates his parents, and gets in plenty of scrapes.  Nicely, Ben’s crush echoes what is happening with his father and the experiment.  He’s not a perfect hero, but because of that he reads as a real person with plenty of emotional depth.

Zan, the chimp, is a wonder of writing.  By turns he charms, aggravates, frightens, bites, mauls, tantrums, and adores.  He is never written as a human child, never given human emotions.  Oppel never loses sight of the fact that Zan is pure animal, that loss of perspective is left to Ben.

The book is deep and haunting.  At times even before things unraveled, I read it with a pit in my stomach, knowing that something was going to unravel the Eden that was being portrayed.  It is a book that explores experimentation on animals, what makes us human, what the animals in our lives mean to us, and what it is that connects us all to one another.  It is a book of self exploration, the clarity of comprehension despite the pain, and what one must lose to do right by those we love.  In short, it is a glory of a novel.

A great read that is impossible to set aside, this book will stay with you long after you finish it.  If you are like me, you will finish it with deep gasping breaths, tears and great satisfaction.  Appropriate for ages 13-15.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.