Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

In our vote last month, The Fourteenth Goldfish was a clear winner over Star Scouts in our search for a great middle grade science fiction/fact read.

I hope you find the book easy to get hold of; it should be readily available in the US, but I'm having to order it, so may not read it in time.

Add your comments about the book below, and feel free to discuss any aspects of it you like, but please use the [ spoiler ] tags to help those who haven't read it yet avoid having the excitement ruined!

Happy May!

I just finished it and I liked it. Great every-day realism mixed with some science fiction impossibilities.

Mid-way, and enjoying it okay, though I'm not gripped. It's a very fast read, so I am noting that I'm not done yet, which I would be if I were really engaged.

Hi Everyone, I have been lurking in this group for a while, and it's time to join the conversation. I am a reader and an author and will officially introduce myself in the right thread.

I just finished The Fourteenth Goldfish, and I enjoyed it. It was a great premise and funny throughout. The story was very lightweight in the beginning, but became more thoughtful as the book progressed. As Ellie came to think of the implications of her Grandfather's discoveries, it made her think more of how this would effect society, and how progress isn't always a good thing.
Stories of past scientists and their discoveries are sprinkled in, and this is a great book for young girls to appreciate science.

Peter wrote: "

I just finished The Fourteenth Goldfish, and I enjoyed it. It was a great premise and funny throughout. The story was very lightweight in the beginning, but became more thoughtful as the book progressed. As Ellie came to think of the implications of her Grandfather's discoveries, it made her think more of how this would effect society, and how progress isn't always a good thing."

I'd say you pretty well summed up my reaction! It wasn't great literature, but it ended up being more substantive than I thought at first.

I read this book a few years ago and enjoyed some parts of it, like the science trivia and definitely the lengths the mum went to keep the goldfish's death from her. The bit I liked less was stereotyping scientists as 'mad' and doing research for the sake of it without any thought of its implications.

I am having the same issues with this book that I often seem to have with Jennifer L. Holm as an author, namely that she tends to promote some rather heavy duty messages (and not at all subtly) and that her characters, especially her antagonists, more often than not seem to be cartoon like and not at all nuanced and well developed. Yes, there are scientists who blithely ignore the implications of their research, but to assume that most scientists act like this is at best naive and at worst a huge disservice to children and an insult to children's intelligence.

This was a fun read. The science element was unique but it was the character relationships and how Ellie learned to cope with all the changes in her world that interested me most.

Favourite quote:
“Middle school is like one of those highway restrooms in the middle of nowhere. It’s dirty and smelly, and it’s crowded with strange people.”

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Justine wrote: "I read this book a few years ago and enjoyed some parts of it, like the science trivia and definitely the lengths the mum went to keep the goldfish's death from her. The bit I liked less was stereo..."

Interesting. I hadn't thought of the "mad scientist" bit as suggesting all scientists are mad (only Melvin). And I was kind of bugged by Mom's effort to undermine the lesson about the goldfish! Of course, the other lesson is that if you actually care for a goldfish properly, it can live for a couple of decades. That one doesn't seem to have been considered as an option.

Perhaps its just one of many stereotypes of scientists being mad?

I would have read this if I could have got hold of it at a reasonable price. So I'm not really qualified to comment. But your comments remind me of how I felt after reading the start of the book (in preview) of the latest Hugo (SciFi awards) winner, which was doing no favours to the scientist parents of the protagonist.

I thought it was great that Ellie got to get to know her grandfather as a person. She was surprised that underneath the 'grandfather character' there was a real person. That is a cool thought. I'd have loved to know what my grandparents were like as people. I also enjoyed the lessons on science that Melvin gave Ellie. She told her that scientists fail all the time and the whole point is to believe an answer is possible and keep trying. I like that. I think this book is good for inspiring an interest in science. It wasn't terribly realistic, but it's science fiction, so why not! I felt that Melvin was portrayed as himself, not a parody of a mad scientist. Even other scientists in the book considered Melvin a little odd, so he was a singular mad scientist, not a representative of the group as a whole. Ellie had a coming of age plot going here that wasn't very well developed, but the author touched on the loss of friends and making new ones as well as accepting a new step-father into the family.

YAY! I've just received notification that my library has it for me! I may start it next Tuesday....

Jemima wrote: "YAY! I've just received notification that my library has it for me! I may start it next Tuesday...."

Hooray! I look forward to hearing your take on it.

Rebecca wrote: "Jemima wrote: "YAY! I've just received notification that my library has it for me! I may start it next Tuesday...."

Hooray! I look forward to hearing your take on it."

And at the same time my physical bookclub comes up with All the Light We Cannot See. Looks like I'm going to be busy.

I'm interested in hearing your take on that one, too. I was listening to it, but lost interest after a chapter or two, and never got back to it. Sometimes that's a function of being an audio book--I can't zip through the opening bits and get to something more interesting.

Well, I throughly enjoyed the Fourteenth Goldfish and zipped through it in three sessions.

I understand Rebecca's comment about the slow start. I was just starting to fidget (metaphorically) when Grandfather arrived, and then it all turned manic. I really felt the author had got the seventy-year old in the teen's body spot-on (nascent acne included!). I also started feeling the problem of accessing your adult stuff with the appearance of a teen; I 'got' the frustration really well.

I felt this was a very clever book without being intellectual - it hit the spot beautifully! And I felt the science was done well, too.