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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Part of my trouble with this book, is the narrator read it in a very small, little girl type voice, which was really hard to listen to, and made the 12 year old character seem very, very young. This was a middle grade book, but it seemed a little too young for me to fully enjoy and appreciate.
The Fourteenth Goldfish is, at its core, a science fiction story; however, it's not a "weird" science fiction story. It is a story filled with humor that has lessons about family, friendship, acceptance, and life. When Ellie's scientist Grandfather, Melvin, finds a way to reverse the aging process, she ends up having him at her middle school as a fellow student-- a seventy-year old man in a 13 year-old's body. Far from being a bad thing, Ellie is involved in adventure and discovery with the 13 year-old Melvin, and she ends up meeting some new friends along the way. She also learns that she has a real interest in science, and wonders if she might have a future as a scientist.
I loved this book. It made me laugh, and even made me cry- just a LITTLE bit. I loved the characters and all the strange predicaments they got into, and I was interested to find out what was going to happen to Melvin. I highly recommend this short, fun, and thought-provoking read!
I loved this book. It made me laugh, and even made me cry- just a LITTLE bit. I loved the characters and all the strange predicaments they got into, and I was interested to find out what was going to happen to Melvin. I highly recommend this short, fun, and thought-provoking read!
LOVED IT!
So fun to find a little bit of Squish in it.
Lots of surprises.
Quotable lines.
Great choice for GRA.
So fun to find a little bit of Squish in it.
Lots of surprises.
Quotable lines.
Great choice for GRA.
When Ellie's grandfather (a mad scientist-type) discovers the secret to staying young and turns himself into a teenage boy, her family suddenly finds itself with a unexpected house guest. Melvin looks like a teenage boy but dresses like Grandpa. He goes to school with Ellie, but grumbles about not being mentioned in the science textbooks. When he convinces Ellie and her new friend to help him steal his secret project from his lab, hilarity ensues. The Fourteenth Goldfish is yet another hilarious, action-packed middle grade novel that both boys and girls will enjoy.
Along with the fun, this book also does a great job at introducing science to girls. As Ellie bonds with her grandpa, she learns about scientists like Salk, Oppenheimer and Marie Curie. She learns to use a microscope and think scientifically. She thinks critically about scientific discoveries in the past and eventually comes to a conclusion about how her grandpa's secret project might affect the world.
I really appreciated how the book was essentially a metaphor for coming to terms with life and death, in a child-friendly way. Ellie has had thirteen pet goldfish die on her, her grandmother has died, her grandfather wishes to be immortal, and Ellie's relationship with her best friend is coming to an end. Little details that add to this theme also made this a book I could appreciate as an adult as well.
I didn't really like the end, but I also don't know how else it could have ended. What do you do with a grandpa stuck in a fourteen-year-old's body? Does he find a way to age himself again? Does he start over as a teenager and correct his past mistakes? At least Ellie seems to have grown, and does the ending hint at a new beginning for her as well?
This review also appears at www.thebestbooksever.com
Along with the fun, this book also does a great job at introducing science to girls. As Ellie bonds with her grandpa, she learns about scientists like Salk, Oppenheimer and Marie Curie. She learns to use a microscope and think scientifically. She thinks critically about scientific discoveries in the past and eventually comes to a conclusion about how her grandpa's secret project might affect the world.
I really appreciated how the book was essentially a metaphor for coming to terms with life and death, in a child-friendly way. Ellie has had thirteen pet goldfish die on her, her grandmother has died, her grandfather wishes to be immortal, and Ellie's relationship with her best friend is coming to an end. Little details that add to this theme also made this a book I could appreciate as an adult as well.
I didn't really like the end, but I also don't know how else it could have ended. What do you do with a grandpa stuck in a fourteen-year-old's body? Does he find a way to age himself again? Does he start over as a teenager and correct his past mistakes? At least Ellie seems to have grown, and does the ending hint at a new beginning for her as well?
This review also appears at www.thebestbooksever.com
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
A slightly bizarre tale about aging and moving forward as Ellie must shepherd her grandfather-now a teenager again-through school and her own trials while making new friends and learning along the way. It's a very short read that is definitely something different, though at times it felt like complete chapters were missing and the ending was quite arbitrary.
The Fourteenth Goldfish is about valuing life in all of its stages, family and friendships and how they inevitably change over time, and food. I mean, come on, who doesn't love a book that cleverly infuses Chinese food into many of its chapters? Holm also has cleverly tucked in bits of science where she can, an homage as she states at the end of the book to her physician father. Young readers will learn about the Nobel Prize, patents, Jonas Salk, Robert Oppenhemier's Manhattan Project, Galileo, Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur, and Isaac Newton.
I would have given five stars had I learned more about what made the characters tick. I felt distant from them because I knew so little-but somehow it all worked because of the pace (what a quick read) and the fact that I still rooted for them.
The Fourteenth Goldfish is a unique, even quirky read that has much to teach us-both young and old. Holm's book will be the final book club selection for my students, and I plan on opening it up to parent-child partnerships.
I would have given five stars had I learned more about what made the characters tick. I felt distant from them because I knew so little-but somehow it all worked because of the pace (what a quick read) and the fact that I still rooted for them.
The Fourteenth Goldfish is a unique, even quirky read that has much to teach us-both young and old. Holm's book will be the final book club selection for my students, and I plan on opening it up to parent-child partnerships.
A great read for the budding scientist. I would give the book four stars from pages 170 and on. It's really then when the reader is asked to consider the morality of the choices we make and embrace the cycle of life or, as Salk said, the idea that "our greatest responsibility is to be great ancestors."