From the Bookshelf of CLCSC Pasadena Area Book Group…

The Fourteenth Goldfish

Jennifer L. Holm,

Tad Carpenter (Illustrator)

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Mar 15, 2015 Nick rated it really liked it

Shelves: juvenile-fiction

This was a really great story, but I have a couple of quibbles.
The first had to do with the boy Raj. He's in middle school, but is described as having significant piercings. I don't know about where the author lives, but here in California that would require major parental permissions, and I'm not sure the school would have been happy, either.
The second had to do with Melvin. He may not be a "quack," as Raj's teacher put it [that usually refers to fake doctors, but since his research is biomed This was a really great story, but I have a couple of quibbles.
The first had to do with the boy Raj. He's in middle school, but is described as having significant piercings. I don't know about where the author lives, but here in California that would require major parental permissions, and I'm not sure the school would have been happy, either.
The second had to do with Melvin. He may not be a "quack," as Raj's teacher put it [that usually refers to fake doctors, but since his research is biomedical, we'll let that one slide], but he is a TERRIBLE scientist, even as mad scientists go...and he does qualify as a mad scientist.
Why mad? Because the first thing he does with what MIGHT be the biggest medical breakthrough in history is to test it on himself, with no plans and no controls. This is not the kind of scientific thinking which wins a Nobel prize. It's the kind that leads to rubbing your hands together and cackling maniacally, as you swear vengeance on the rest of the scientific community.
Why terrible? In addition to the above, at no time did he apparently keep decent records, or even pay attention to what he was doing. With no controls, no plan, and no backup, no research partner, and no records, how in the world does he expect to prove his results are legitimate? In addition, in one of the reveals in the book, he has a change of heart and throws away something very important, not only to his research, but potentially to many other people. A REAL scientist would have considered the benefits of further research, in order to benefit people with progeria or other disabling conditions, but no. Just as at the beginning, only his own feelings matter, and since his own feelings have changed, then to hell with everyone else. It would be like saying, "Well, that nice Dr. Curie died of radiation poisoning, so let's prevent anyone from researching radiation."
I'm not sure that's how the author intended the story to be read, but that's how it came across to me, from what Melvin actually says and does.
The saving grace of the story is the other central character, Ellie. Even though her own parents lied to her about the whole goldfish thing, totally ruining the point her teacher had tried to make, Ellie came through okay. Even though her crazy grandfather stepped in and disrupted her life, she came through okay. In the end, she's the moral compass of the bunch, and that one who might someday achieve something. ...more

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Feb 01, 2014 Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: mg, 2014-read-in, 2014-mg

Aug 01, 2018 Amanda marked it as to-read

Jul 19, 2014 Sigrid Bishop marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jan 23, 2015 Jennette Neville marked it as to-read

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