87:100 George's Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking

George's parents do not believe in the positives of technology, only its dangers to the planet.  There is no tv, no phone, no computers but George did manage to talk them into letting him have a pet pig.  Except one day the pig escapes into his neighbor's backyard and he meets Annie who introduces him to her father and their supercomputer, Cosmos.  With Cosmos's help, Annie's father is able to journey through the solar system to explore so much further.  Of course, George ends up accidentally telling one of his teachers about Cosmos and that teacher has been looking for Cosmos for his own purposes.

I really wanted to like this book.  I mean, a children's book written by Stephen Hawking and his daughter about space?!  It should be awesome!  My 12 year old loved the entire series and was finishing each one in about two days.  However, the plot was so unbelievably simplistic and predictable it was a slog to get through.  Yes, the science is sound but it was less woven in and more just graphs and extra information that broke up what flow there was in the story (which wasn't much).  I can't bring myself to try and read any of the others in this series but my son recommends them to the late elementary/middle school science geeks.


Page count: 295p/15,751p ytd/307,767p lifetime

67:120 When the Sun Goes Dark by Andrew Fraknoi & Dennis Schatz

A book from the National Science Teachers Association explaining the science of eclipses in a concise and easy to understand way for middle school children. After seeing a partial eclipse, my 11yr old really enjoyed reading it and getting a better idea of the hows and whys of solar eclipses.  I read it so I could know what he knew and what else we could discuss about them,

Page count: 36p/13,331p ytd/284,435p lifetime

6:120 The Time and Space of Uncle Albert by Russell Stannard

Gedanken has a science project due for school so she goes to her Uncle Albert for help.  He informs her of an experiment he has been working on and this new thing he has discovered, a thought bubble, where experiments can be conducted that can't be done on Earth.  She agrees to go into the thought bubble to chase a light beam and try to catch one.  She can't but they do learn a few things from her first attempt and several more attempts are made as they discover strange things with each experiment.  She is finally able to complete her project which earns her a good grade.

In reality, Uncle Albert is Albert Einstein and this book is exploring his Special Theory of Relativity in an easier to understand way.  I'm definitely a fan of the way it was presented and have gotten the other books in the series for my youngest although I look forward to reading them as well.  A nice, gentle introduction to relativity for the young or old.


Page count: 120p/1,340p ytd/176,815p lifetime