Working with Melvin on his single-minded quest for an age-reversal breakthrough, and utilizing the principles that Melvin is teaching her about science (looking for possibility, observation and questioning are the most important skills a scientist can possess, failure is a good thing as long as you keep trying), Ellie realizes that scientific breakthroughs can also have consequences, both ethical and societal. Navigating new and old friendships, seeing her parents through new eyes, and even looking at herself with a renewed curiosity, Ellie’s breakthrough even helps open Melvin’s eyes to a possibility he hadn’t considered: “life is precious and we don’t realize that at the time. But maybe life’s also precious because it doesn’t last forever. Like an amusement park ride. The roller coaster is exciting the first time. But would it be as fun if you did it again and again and again?” (178)
Blending knowingness and curiosity, adding in just the right amount of family tension and zany humor, Jennifer L. Holm‘s The Fourteenth Goldfish will charm every reader who’s fortunate enough to pick it up. It’s a lot of fun to imagine how the special bond between grandfather and granddaughter would play out if they were both, magically, the same age. In this case, Ellie and Melvin are a great team – they counterbalance each other in so many ways – that they both learn things from the other that will enrich their lives and relationship forever.
- Posted by Cori