Jennifer L. Holm's The Fourteenth Goldfish
I fully admit to only knowing Holm from her Babymouse series, and only now finding out that she's written a bunch of Newbery Honor books as well. I imagine this one will only add to her list of awards--it's a really solid and sweet story with kind of a When You Reach Me vibe (that is HIGH praise coming from me), though it feels aimed at a slightly younger audience. Anyway, it's about eleven year old Ellie, the daughter of a pair of (happily divorced) theater types, and her grandfather--a scientist who has used a rare jellyfish to reverse the aging process. And now he's been arrested for breaking into his own lab--because he, of course, looks like a teenager. Soon Elli is caught up in his attempts to reclaim his samples and win the Nobel. There's a lot of great stuff here about family, growing up, and there's a thin subplot about making new friends and learning to branch out. All very satisfying stuff. The NYT liked it too! A-/B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on Tuesday.
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