{"id":25397,"date":"2014-10-15T22:27:18","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T02:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=25397"},"modified":"2014-10-15T22:27:18","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T02:27:18","slug":"review-of-the-fourteenth-goldfish-by-jennifer-l-holm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=25397","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer L. Holm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"14th_goldfish_large\"<\/a>The Fourteenth Goldfish<\/em><\/p>\n

by Jennifer L. Holm<\/p>\n

Random House, New York, 2014. 195 pages.<\/p>\n

The Fourteenth Goldfish<\/em> gets its name because of the goldfish Ellie was given in preschool:<\/p>\n

I took my goldfish home and named it Goldie like every other kid in the world who thought they were being original. But it turned out that Goldie was<\/em> kind of original.<\/p>\n

Because Goldie didn\u2019t die.<\/p>\n

Even after all my classmates\u2019 fish had gone to the great fishbowl in the sky, Goldie was still alive. Still alive when I started kindergarten. Still alive in first grade. Still alive in second grade and third and fourth. Then finally, last year in fifth grade, I went into the kitchen one morning and saw my fish floating upside down in the bowl.<\/p>\n

My mom groaned when I told her.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t last very long,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d I asked. \u201cHe lasted seven years!\u201d<\/p>\n

She gave me a smile and said, \u201cEllie, that wasn\u2019t the original Goldie. The first fish only lasted two weeks. When he died, I bought another one and put him in the bowl. There\u2019ve been a lot<\/em> of fish over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat number was this one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlucky thirteen,\u201d she said with a wry look.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were all unlucky,\u201d I pointed out.<\/p>\n

We gave Goldie Thirteen a toilet-bowl funeral, and I asked my mom if we could get a dog.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After this seemingly unrelated beginning, in the next chapter we learn that Ellie\u2019s mother is going to be late coming home because of something to do with getting her grandfather from the police. When she does come home, she\u2019s got a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy with her. He looks awfully familiar, and is very critical of her mom.<\/p>\n

Something about this whole exchange tickles at my memory. It\u2019s like watching a movie I\u2019ve already seen. I study the boy \u2013 the gray-tipped hair, the way he\u2019s standing so comfortably in our hall, how his right hand opens and closes as if used to grasping something by habit. But it\u2019s the heavy gold ring hanging loosely on his middle finger that draws my eye. It\u2019s a school ring, like the kind you get in college, and it looks old and worn and has a red gem in the center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen that ring before,\u201d I say, and then I remember whose hand I saw it on.<\/p>\n

I look at the boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrandpa?\u201d I blurt out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, Ellie\u2019s grandpa Melvin is a scientist, and he\u2019s discovered a \u201ccure for aging.\u201d He discovered a new kind of jellyfish that can actually revert its body to the polyp stage, it\u2019s younger self. He made a compound with the specimen and tested it successfully on mice, reverting them to adolescents. Then, naturally, he tried it on himself, and the result is an apparently thirteen-year-old \u201ccousin\u201d living with them.<\/p>\n

Melvin has a mission \u2013 to break into his lab and recover the jellyfish specimen. The security people there don\u2019t believe he\u2019s the same person as is shown on his badge.<\/p>\n

But living with his adult daughter and eleven-year-old granddaughter has some challenges. Ellie\u2019s mom insists that he has to go to school, since he doesn\u2019t want to get the police coming after them. As Ellie gets to know him, she finds the science he talks about more and more fascinating. And she\u2019s happy to try to help him break into the lab.<\/p>\n

This book is a lot of fun, and presents a refreshing perspective on aging, science, and the generation gap. Without giving any specifics, I\u2019ll say that I didn\u2019t buy the ending, so that made it fall short of greatness for me. But I did like the way she interwove themes throughout the book, and I liked the look at how an old man would act if he suddenly became a teenager again.<\/p>\n

randomhouse.com\/kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/14th_goldfish.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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