Archive for Science Fiction

Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor

Written by Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Brian Biggs

Take a kid genius inventor, add a couple of talking robots, throw in a pint-sized villain with a sidekick chimp, and you’ve got the ingredients for the first book of John Scieszka’s new six-book series.

Frank Einstein loves to use household items to invent all kinds of things in his Grampa Al’s garage. He wants to build a SmartBot that can think and learn, but a power outage thwarts his efforts. Later that night, a bolt of lightning causes an electrical spark to bring not one, but two robots to life: Klink, the wisecracking brainiac, and Klank, the emotional hugger. Along with his trusted friend Watson, Frank enlists Klink and Klank to help him develop his greatest invention yet: an antimatter motor, which he knows is a shoo-in to win the upcoming Midville Science Fair. Winning this competition means a lot to Frank as he plans to use the prize money to help save Grampa Al’s repair shop.

Disaster strikes when Frank’s invention ends up in the hands of his arch-nemesis, T. Edison, who not only uses the antimatter idea to win the science prize, but also kidnaps Klink and Klank. Frank must use scientific knowledge and logic to save his robots, overcome the enemy, and save the world from destruction. All in a day’s work for this super genius hero!

Scieszka continues his mission to bolster the reading habits of children, especially reluctant boy readers, by adding a healthy helping of silliness to the real principles of science: observation, hypothesis, results, and conclusion. Facts and figures are presented at a fourth grade level with help from Biggs, who creates easy diagrams and illustrations in a cartooning style.

Fun to read and good for you, too. A winning combination.

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    • Frank EinsteinTitle: Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor
  • Author: John Scieszka
  • Illustrator: Brian Biggs
  • Publisher: Amulet Books / Abrams, 2014
  • Reviewer: Lauren Abbey Greenberg
  • Format: Paperback, 192 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-4197-1218-0
  • Genre: Fiction, Science fiction, Humor

 

Circus Galacticus

Written by Deva Fagan

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Life has never been easy for Trix.  An orphan and an outcast among privileged students in the boarding school where she lives as a charity case, Trix survives because she is stubborn and angry.  Suddenly everything changes.  It starts small.  She can read writing that no one else can on the poster for Circus Galacticus.  A strange man appears outside her dorm room window, climbing in her room and attacking her.  Then her hair turns pink.  She needs answers and thinks that the mysterious message on the circus poster may hold the key.  She meets the Ringmaster and he offers her a place at the circus.  This is no ordinary circus.  This is an intergalactic spaceship filled with outcasts who are searching for a way to survive against the repressive government of the Mandate.  Trix must find out what her talent is and if she fits into this complicated world of new creatures and new rules before she endangers herself and the entire circus.  She learns that the piece of meteorite that her astronaut parents left her is something much more important than she thought and gives her valuable clues to who she really is.

Throughout Trix’s journey of self-discovery, she remains stubborn and rebellious but she learns that she doesn’t have to always take on the whole universe by herself.  Her courage to do just that helps her win the day.  Lots of adventure and science fiction daring-do.  Students can make a chart as a reading worksheet of each choice that Trix has to make, what her options are and what she chooses to do as a way of examining her character.  There is a discussion guide on the author’s website: (http://devafagan.com/circus-galacticus-discussion-guide/).  Although there is also a book trailer on the author’s website, students could make their own as a literacy activity.

  • Circus GalacticusTITLE: Circus Galacticus
  • AUTHOR: Deva Fagan
  • PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011
  • REVIEWER: Risa Brown
  • EDITION: Paperback, 291 p.
  • ISBN: 978-0-547-85087-0
  • GENRE: Science fiction