Intro
Natalie’s mother is a botanist who used to love working on plants. But now she stays all the time in her bedroom gloomy and doesn’t visit her lab. Natalie is not able to understand the reason behind her mother’s unusual behavior. Her mother is suffering from depression and both the parents are not able to open up with Natalie on this topic. Natalie as per her understanding tries to find answers and different methods to bring back happiness in her Mom’s life. This book is about exploring science of hope to mend cracks in life. When parents lose hope, kids have to save them. A very nice read for high school kids
Review
This book is very delightful to read. It has science, friendship, emotions, and humor. The protagonist, Natalie is a sweet girl, studying in 7th grade. There are various characters involved in this story who are closely associated with Natalie, like her two best friends, Twig and Dari. Twig is very energetic and her character adds humor to this story. Twig makes Natalie happy whenever she is upset. She is a true friend. Dari is a smart student who has come from India. Then, there is Natalie’s new science teacher, Mr. Neely who is over-enthusiastic and always encourages his students to ask questions. He suggests Natalie participate in an egg drop competition. Natalie takes interest in this competition because she believes the prize money can help her to travel along with her mom to fetch the Cobalt Blue Orchid, the flower that can bloom in toxins. The blue orchid was an important botanist discovery of her mom. They had the same plant in their greenhouse which is dead now. Natalie believes that if her mom gets that plant, she would get inspired to live again. Natalie takes help from Twig and Dari to work on the egg drop project. It is very interesting to read how the three friends prepare for this competition and eventually become best friends at the end of the contest.
The whole story is presented in the form of science assignments so kids who are in high school can easily co-relate with the activities happening in Natalie’s school. Readers of any age can enjoy this book. If you are an adult it will take you back to your school days when working in the science lab used to be fun. The author has very well written about Natalie’s conflicts and emotions when she is clueless about her mother’s illness. Many times it happens, adults hesitate to share their troubles with kids. But kids understand the change in behavior of their parents and they want to contribute as a family member. The end of the story is quite realistic. Overall, it can be an enjoyable summer read for middle school kids.
My take away
On the last page, there is a very touching line. It says, “You can’t always protect breakable things. Hearts and eggs will break, and everything changes, but you keep going anyway. Because science is asking questions and living is not being afraid of the answer”.