This is a book about science, friendship and life...with a sprinkling of family dynamics. Eleven year-old Ellie has just entered middle school. She is discovering that everything safe that embodied 5th grade can no longer be counted on - even her best friend Brianna has drifted away to a new group of friends.
Then...her grandfather (the scientist with two Ph.D's) appears...in the body of a 13 year-old boy...claiming that he has discovered the secret to reverse aging. And just like that, her grandfather is a student at her middle school! But Ellie doesn't seem to mind - she gets caught up in her grandfather's world of discovery, learning about Jonas Salk, Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur...and a world of science that she had never before appreciated.
This is a fun, easy to read story that celebrates science, exploring, and "believing in the possible." It is full of quirky characters and a story line that moves right along. Realistic? No...but it doesn't need to be.
The story starts where it ends...with a torrential downpour that sends a school bus skidding off the road and its driver unconscious. With that as a prologue, the story continues 9 months earlier, weaving the events and characters together that lead up to the actual crash. This involves 9 different middle schoolers, and 9 different perspectives...From Shelly, the actress...to Bender, the bully...to Igor, the clown...to Spencer, the genius...Or are any of them really who they seem to be??
I found this well paced and easy to read, despite the manner in which it jumps from character to character. Through the pages, I wondered who would be the famous one by the end of the book - a twist at the end left me scratching my head...
