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Shift
Will They Listen To a Child Before it's Too Late?
Meet Dax Masters, the coolest science whiz you'll ever come across! At just twelve years old, he's got it all-a passion for hanging out with his friends, dominating video games, and rocking the scientific world. Dax's dreams are as big as his brain, and he's determined to win the sixth-grade science fair and score an exclusive invite to the mind-blowing Innovative Science Convention, where the brightest young minds in the world gather.
The twist? Dax's project isn't your average volcano eruption-he's out to shake the world. Armed with undeniable evidence, he's on a mission to show that even the world's top scientists have missed a crucial change in the Earth. Who wouldn't be captivated by a young genius challenging the status quo?
Join Dax on his epic quest as he not only has to convince his father his science project is worthy but also take on the challenge of a lifetime to convince the world's best scientists they've got it all wrong. Hold onto your lab coats because Dax Masters is about to turn the scientific community upside down!
Meet Dax Masters, the coolest science whiz you'll ever come across! At just twelve years old, he's got it all-a passion for hanging out with his friends, dominating video games, and rocking the scientific world. Dax's dreams are as big as his brain, and he's determined to win the sixth-grade science fair and score an exclusive invite to the mind-blowing Innovative Science Convention, where the brightest young minds in the world gather.
The twist? Dax's project isn't your average volcano eruption-he's out to shake the world. Armed with undeniable evidence, he's on a mission to show that even the world's top scientists have missed a crucial change in the Earth. Who wouldn't be captivated by a young genius challenging the status quo?
Join Dax on his epic quest as he not only has to convince his father his science project is worthy but also take on the challenge of a lifetime to convince the world's best scientists they've got it all wrong. Hold onto your lab coats because Dax Masters is about to turn the scientific community upside down!
246 pages, Paperback
Published August 29, 2023
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 5, 2023
This MG debut is like nothing I've read before and I wish there were books more like this when I was growing up. I love how capable the author lets Dax and his science loving friends be. Children can discover truths and lead change. What a fantastic message. Read this book, science is cool!
November 7, 2023
“People don’t want to know the truth, even when it’s so obviously in their faces they cannot ignore the evidence. But they will try. Then they will say you are crazy.” (198)
Sixth grader Dax Masters is a science nerd—he notices things and wants to find the truth. In this he is supported by his two best friends, Avery and Kayla.
When a small earthquake hits Calgary, a town “nowhere near a fault line” at the very same time one is experienced across the world in the Maldives, Dax wonders if there is a connection. Then his dogs and the other dogs in the dog park act strangely, “All of them frozen as if listening—or feeling—something only they could sense.” During the next few weeks Dax begins to notice many oddities—“Earthquakes where they never happen. Boiling water where it is normally temperate. Oversized vegetables [in his mother’s garden]. Animals leaving the safety of their forests.” (148)
He decides to investigate these phenomena as his school science project, hoping to win a chance to compete at the Innovative Science Convention with “the best from North America.” After ruling out climate change as the cause of these anomalies, he realizes “those changes are most likely caused be something deeper, somethings less obvious, something happening internally in the earth” and, after much research and study, begins “working on the theory that the movement of the tectonic plates has changed direction.” (130)
“You know what’s amazing about all this?…That you had the ability to recognize that something was different about the world around you and that you did not let it go. So many people notice change and shrug it off. But you let your scientific mind do the work. You explored. And the world is better off because of explorers like you.” (235)
This is a perfect novel for a science class or an ELA class working with a science class, especially one whose content covers earthquakes, geology, and land formations—and the scientific process. The characters are in 6th grade, but the storyline and content would be appropriate for 6th through 9th as the scientific information is quite involved.
Sixth grader Dax Masters is a science nerd—he notices things and wants to find the truth. In this he is supported by his two best friends, Avery and Kayla.
When a small earthquake hits Calgary, a town “nowhere near a fault line” at the very same time one is experienced across the world in the Maldives, Dax wonders if there is a connection. Then his dogs and the other dogs in the dog park act strangely, “All of them frozen as if listening—or feeling—something only they could sense.” During the next few weeks Dax begins to notice many oddities—“Earthquakes where they never happen. Boiling water where it is normally temperate. Oversized vegetables [in his mother’s garden]. Animals leaving the safety of their forests.” (148)
He decides to investigate these phenomena as his school science project, hoping to win a chance to compete at the Innovative Science Convention with “the best from North America.” After ruling out climate change as the cause of these anomalies, he realizes “those changes are most likely caused be something deeper, somethings less obvious, something happening internally in the earth” and, after much research and study, begins “working on the theory that the movement of the tectonic plates has changed direction.” (130)
“You know what’s amazing about all this?…That you had the ability to recognize that something was different about the world around you and that you did not let it go. So many people notice change and shrug it off. But you let your scientific mind do the work. You explored. And the world is better off because of explorers like you.” (235)
This is a perfect novel for a science class or an ELA class working with a science class, especially one whose content covers earthquakes, geology, and land formations—and the scientific process. The characters are in 6th grade, but the storyline and content would be appropriate for 6th through 9th as the scientific information is quite involved.
December 17, 2023
Goldstein's Shift is everything a science-loving kid could hope for: friendship, tricky family dynamics, science fairs and a middle-school hero who saves the day! I loved the dive into the mind of Dax and his scientific discoveries. A thrill to read from cover to cover. Oh, and it will appeal to those less science oriented too!
September 6, 2024
Dana Goldstein's first foray into fiction is a delight. This middle school novel follows an observant sixth grade student who's curiosity is peaked when he experiences a minor earth quake- in a town that does not lie anywhere near a fault line. Other geographical anomalies abound and animals are acting strange. Dax thinks that all the events are tied together. He decides to explore his theories for the sixth grade science fair, but when he finally develops his hypothesis, he thinks that he has reached an earth shattering conclusion! Goldstein lets us into the inner workings of this kid's mind. There is plenty of science for scientific minded kid to enjoy. But she also includes friendship, family dynamics, bullies and the battle between self confidence and doubt. When I had a chance to review the new sequel, Flow I requested this book as well. I loved this book and I can't wait to dig into the next one.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews