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27th out of 97 books
—
7 voters
Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper (Simon Bloom #1)
Sixth-grader Simon Bloom can't believe his luck when he finds a book that enables him to control the laws of physics. By simply reciting the formulas it contains, he can cancel gravity to fly around his bedroom, or decrease friction so he can slide down the street as if he were on Rollerblades. When two thugs with evil intentions come after Simon, he must use the formulas...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
February 14th 2008
by Dutton Juvenile
(first published January 1st 2008)
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fun, Fun story. Its a keeper.
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
What would you do if you could control the laws of Physics?
Simon Bloom is an average eleven-year-old boy that dreams of being able to fly and instantaneously travel to the moon. But as a 6th-grader, he doesn't know anything about the laws of Physics. Nor has he ever noticed the woods at the end of Van Silas Way. And not just any woods. These woods have trees as big as the Redwoods, yet no one seems to notice them. Then one fateful day, with his new friend,...more
What would you do if you could control the laws of Physics?
Simon Bloom is an average eleven-year-old boy that dreams of being able to fly and instantaneously travel to the moon. But as a 6th-grader, he doesn't know anything about the laws of Physics. Nor has he ever noticed the woods at the end of Van Silas Way. And not just any woods. These woods have trees as big as the Redwoods, yet no one seems to notice them. Then one fateful day, with his new friend,...more
Well, I couldn't get through this one. I started off loving the wit and attitude of the narrator. Definitely in the Douglas Adams vein of humor. However, my issue with this book was that it read like a half-hearted Harry Potter knock-off. Strange considering it's a book about physics and Potter is about magic. But, the characters here "invoke" "formulae" in a small clearing, atop tree stumps. Simply replace invoke with cast, and formulae with spells and it's another Harry Potter. These character...more
Jul 19, 2008
Patrick Bowman
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
ages 8 to adult, maybe a bit younger if they are good readers and science buffs
This is a kids book, targeted at about the 10-14 year old crowd, but I think it is going to draw a much larger audience. A series of science lessons rolled into a science fiction/science-fantasy story, it offers an incredibly imaginative perspective on the universe and how it operates. This is the story of Simon Bloom, a sixth grader who finds a book that allows him to control gravity and other physics-based laws of the universe. Adventure, and a good amount of humor, create a well told story th...more
(3 1/2 stars)
Have you ever seen the inside of a teacher's edition of a school book? Not only does it have the answers to all the question, it also provides more knowledge and material than the regular edition; when Simon Bloom accidentally gets the Teacher's Edition on the Book of Physics, his life is changed profoundly. For this Teacher's Edition actually holds the real secrets of the universe, and gives the reader an understanding of- for example how to manipulate gravity. At first Simon and h...more
Have you ever seen the inside of a teacher's edition of a school book? Not only does it have the answers to all the question, it also provides more knowledge and material than the regular edition; when Simon Bloom accidentally gets the Teacher's Edition on the Book of Physics, his life is changed profoundly. For this Teacher's Edition actually holds the real secrets of the universe, and gives the reader an understanding of- for example how to manipulate gravity. At first Simon and h...more
As a child, I was stunned when I first came across the teacher’s edition of one of our elementary school class’s textbooks. Good lord, all the answers were in there! Our teacher didn’t need to know it all off the top of her head after all. Although, knowing Ms. Hernandez, she probably did anyway.
Even more powerful and useful is the tome 6th-grader Simon finds in a mysterious – or rather, it finds him (chooses him, as it turns out) by falling out of a rent in space/time and falling on his head. I...more
Even more powerful and useful is the tome 6th-grader Simon finds in a mysterious – or rather, it finds him (chooses him, as it turns out) by falling out of a rent in space/time and falling on his head. I...more
Oct 09, 2011
Nix
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
kids
Recommended to Nix by:
Blasterbot
Shelves:
blog,
science-fiction
Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper by Michael Reisman details the life of Simon Bloom, who finds an amazing Teacher's Edition of Physics which allows him to control some parts of physics. He has to protect the Teacher's Edition from falling into the wrong hands - but who are the wrong hands?
This book breaks the fourth wall by having an actual character called the Narrator. The characters visit the Narrator and watch their story play out in real time. I found this fascinating. Not many stories that...more
This book breaks the fourth wall by having an actual character called the Narrator. The characters visit the Narrator and watch their story play out in real time. I found this fascinating. Not many stories that...more
"Knowledge is power." If Reisman did have an intention of using that quote to sum up this book, I totally believed it. How I wish I could have Simon's third ability to master the space-time formula to go back to school and not give up on 'science'. This is the reason why fiction is so awesome.
Superheroes don't need to get bitten by insects/animals, get chosen 'to be the one' by some alien/god being or a born-mutant. Understanding the basics rule of science, learning and mastering formulas and kn...more
Superheroes don't need to get bitten by insects/animals, get chosen 'to be the one' by some alien/god being or a born-mutant. Understanding the basics rule of science, learning and mastering formulas and kn...more
Imaginemos um mundo normal: levantamo-nos, vamos à escola, trabalhamos, estamos com a nossa família, voltamos a deitar-nos. E, à nossa volta, continuam a existir aquelas pessoas capazes de fazer algo importante para a História da Humanidade - por exemplo, a descoberta da cura para a SIDA. No entanto, para além deste mundo normal e destas pessoas especiais, existe uma Confederação da qual todos nós somos ignorantes da sua existência. E o que é que ela faz? Controla o Universo.
Mas aqui não encontr...more
Mas aqui não encontr...more
The book itself was actially probably more of a 3.5-star effort considering my usual ranking criteria - pretty entertaining, fun premise, decent enough writing, but a few minor holes and a few instances of over-cheesyness (oh look, yet another author making a tribute to Douglas Adams) that keep it from being distinctly better than average. But I'm rounding up to 4 stars instead of down to 3 on account of the sheer amount of time that my husband and I have spent talking about it. It's a really di...more
So when you find a book adorned with a Post-it note from your eleven year old daughter saying, "Dad, read this book!" what else can you do but read it? Clearly heavily influenced by the Harry Potter books, Reisman's story follows the adventures of Simon Bloom and his two misfit friends after a mysterious "Teacher's Edition" physics textbook finds Simon and endows him with the ability to control gravity and friction via a series of arcane formulas. It's a leap to buy into a secret society control...more
Any author who invokes Douglas Adams in the first line of his acknowledgments gets my attention.
One third of the way through, so far, so good. There's some of the usual pre-adolescent friendship traumas, some fun twists on science as we know it, and, much to this reader's great joy, more than a little Daniel Pinkwater-ish-ness (and it's not just the New Jersey setting).
Only two stars because it never really grabbed me, though nothing about it was necessarily bad. There is the seed here of someth...more
One third of the way through, so far, so good. There's some of the usual pre-adolescent friendship traumas, some fun twists on science as we know it, and, much to this reader's great joy, more than a little Daniel Pinkwater-ish-ness (and it's not just the New Jersey setting).
Only two stars because it never really grabbed me, though nothing about it was necessarily bad. There is the seed here of someth...more
6th-grader Simon Bloom unexpectedly gets the Book of Physics, a uniquely powerful book which allows him to manipulate the laws of physics to control his surroundings. Unfortunately, he is not the only one who wants the Book. And some are willing to kill to do it. Newton's Laws and some space-time theory are thrown in, but in such a way that they enhance the story instead of feeling pedantic. Very well done and enjoyable.
I am not a physics fan--I took a class in high school that probably traumatized me for life when it comes to the subject. But here, physics seemed almost FUN!
Fast moving, characters that are just quirky enough AND a chance to beat the bullies at dodge ball. All in all, a winner.
Fast moving, characters that are just quirky enough AND a chance to beat the bullies at dodge ball. All in all, a winner.
This book is about a 6th grader named Simon Bloom who comes across a book with strange powers that let him control the laws of physics! But while Simon is testing new ways to use the Book, the villain is hiding away plotting to take revenge on the Order of Sciences: the very people that control the laws of all sciences. That isn't the only problem Simon has to deal with because the Order of Physics has found out that Simon has their Keeper's book, they are urged to take the book from him! Now, S...more
I really liked the way the author started with the real laws of physics and sort of bent them to turn them in to super powers. I definitely will read the sequel.
I liked the action, but the scientific explanations were a bit too...well...scientific!? This will make a great movie and probably a great graphic novel.
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Interesting twist on science fiction/fantasy. Loved how the story was written with the narrator included.
Interesting book, very creative use of science. I found the "Narrator" business quite an amusing way to break the third wall, and the main characters were the kind of people it is easy to cheer for. Some of the side characters were one-dimensional, but the hooded figure (not using her name, because I don't want to mark this review as having spoilers) felt genuine. It kind of reminded me of James Dashner's The Thirteenth Reality series given that both are whimsical and blur the line between scien...more
Really liked this one. Narrator was very good and the story was interesting and funny.
i give up, i can't say that there was anything wrong with it - I just never got into it.
This book is so good that if you read it, it will be in your top five book list instantly!
How do you ignore a book with a title like that? I thought the was a FANTASTIC kids book! Ok, probably more middle school, but I loved it too. Simon finds this book (or rather it finds him) called the Teacher's Edition of Physics. With it, he can control gravity, velocity and other "ity" words that made me glad I didn't take physics. That aside, I loved the characters and thought the book itself was super funny. Definitely recommend it to 10+. Any younger than that and they might get bogged down...more
Simon Bloom's life is turned upside-down when he discovers the "Teacher's Edition" of his classroom physics textbook, which magically gives him power over the laws of physics. He manipulates gravity and friction, allowing him to float, fly, zoom or slow down. After accidentally eavesdropping on a group of excessively silly senior wizards sporting wacky psuedo-medieval names, he finds himself unavoidably caught up in the action.
The evil Sirabetta is able to control several different branches of s...more
The evil Sirabetta is able to control several different branches of s...more
Jun 07, 2012
Kim (magicsandwiches) Lawyer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
glad-i-read-it-but-wont-reread
My fifteen year old read this book so many times that I had to see what all the fuss was about. It's a fun little story about an eleven year-old science nerd who accidentally discovers a book titled "Physics: Teacher's Edition" which actually holds all the keys to the Physics of the Universe. Crazy adventures ensue as you can imagine they would if an eleven year-old science nerd suddenly had control of the laws of physics. Not a book I'll read again, but I can totally see why my son loves it.
Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper:
Pros: Well-paced, a steady flow of action and adventure, a lot of fun to read, mixes science with magic... always a dangerous but exciting combination, and well described characters, each with a mysterious subplot.
I could not find any cons except for small factual errors hardly worth mentioning, therefore I will not mention them at all.
My overall review is that it is fun and entertaining book that you will hopefully not regret reading.
Pros: Well-paced, a steady flow of action and adventure, a lot of fun to read, mixes science with magic... always a dangerous but exciting combination, and well described characters, each with a mysterious subplot.
I could not find any cons except for small factual errors hardly worth mentioning, therefore I will not mention them at all.
My overall review is that it is fun and entertaining book that you will hopefully not regret reading.
A way to introduce kids to science fiction. The author lists The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy as one of his greatest inspirations. Now having read Guide, I can see how this book tried to mimic the spastic writing style found in the Guide. While Gravity Keeper is OK, and I think the 11-12 year old crowd would enjoy it, I thought it was trying too hard, and never fully explained why we should care so much about this world he created. Still amusing in some parts.
This is a book that is actual science fiction. No aliens, no space travel, though there is some time travel, but overall, it's a bit off because the physics knowledge and interest necessary to stay interested in this book is not taught below a sixth grade level, but that's the age of the protagonist. Oh well. You can't win them all. It was interesting enough for a sciency kid who either doesn't mind reading about younger kids.
I liked how science laws and principles were integrated into this junior fiction story. I think it would have been better if it was made a little shorter. There was too much in the middle with the kids trying out the same formulas over and over to get out of trouble. The names were a bit confusing. I loved the sparrow character though! He cracked me up, especially as voiced by the reader in the audio version.
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Michael went to college in upstate NY at the State University of New York, Albany (a.k.a. SUNY Albany), and he graduated with a degree in Psychology and English. He's had many jobs: a pizzeria dishwasher, a supermarket checkout boy, and spraying cologne in a department store (he got fired on his first night). He's worked making smoothies, selling retail clothing, and he washed enormous party tents...more
More about Michael Reisman...
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“He wouldn't call a glass of water half full or half empty; he'd assume it was poisoned and run away. ”
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“Curiosity is a good thing, like onion soup. But too much onion soup makes your breath smell terrible. And too much curiosity can make your whole body smell terrible, if it causes you to be dead. ”
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Jun 17, 2011 10:34am