Le 3e Champignon

The Fourteenth Goldfish #2

by Jennifer L. Holm

Le grand-père d'Élise est un scientifique de renommée mondiale… coincé dans le corps d'un garçon de 14 ans. Ses pieds sentent mauvais, il mange tout ce qu'il y a dans le réfrigérateur, et pourtant, Élise ADORE l'avoir à ses côtés. Son grand-père a peut-être de la difficulté à s'intégrer à l'école secondaire, mais, au moins, il rend les choses intéressantes.

Quand Élise et lui font équipe pour une grande expo-science, personne ne réalise à quel point leur expérience sera révolutionnaire. En effet, la formule pour obtenir la jeunesse éternelle pourrait bien être à leur portée! Et quand le chat d'Élise tombe soudainement malade, les enjeux deviennent plus élevés que jamais.

Mais la clé de l'immortalité est-elle vraiment la clé du bonheur? Parfois, même les expériences les plus minutieusement préparées mènent à des résultats totalement inattendus.


Elise's grandpa Melvin is a world-renowned scientist...in the body of a fourteen-year-old boy. His feet stink, and he eats everything in the refrigerator -- and Elise is so happy to have him around. Grandpa may not exactly fit in at middle school, but he certainly keeps things interesting. When he and Elise team up for the county science fair, no one realizes just how groundbreaking their experiment will be. The formula for eternal youth may be within their reach! And when Elise's cat, Jonas Salk, gets sick, the stakes become even higher. But is the key to eternal life really the key to happiness? Sometimes even the most careful experiments yield unexpected -- and wonderful -- results.

Original title: The Third Mushroom

Genres: Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Audiobook, Friendship

264 pages, Unknown Binding

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

Jennifer L. Holm is a USA TODAY and NEW YORK TIMES-bestselling children's author with more than 9.8 million books in print She is the recipient of three Newbery Honors for her novels OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE and a Scott O'Dell Award for her novel FULL OF BEANS.

Jennifer collaborates with her brother, Matthew Holm, on three bestselling graphic novel series -- the Eisner Award-winning Babymouse series, the SUNNY series, and the Squish series. SQUISH is now an animated tv series on YouTube!

For more information, visit her website at www.jenniferholm.com.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally have found Jennifer L. Holm's 2018 middle grade novel The Third Mushroom a more than satisfying sequel to her 2014 The Fourteenth Goldfish. For yes indeed, Holm's presented text for The Third Mushroom is like with The Fourteenth Goldfish delightfully realistic, often humorous (but also at times quite thought provoking, sometimes even sad and heartbreaking), with first person narrator (and now in seventh-grade) Ellie chronicling a tentative (and not all that successful) attempt at romance with her Goth friend Raj (and a subsequent rekindling of her friendship with Brianna), a science fair experiment with her grandfather Melvin (who is still in the body of a 14-year-old boy and often hilariously teenager like, eating everything in the fridge, leaving dirty laundry everywhere and having permanently stinky feet), the death of a beloved family pet and even a new appreciation for mushrooms, an erstwhile despised food (but that I for one and very much personally do think that Ellie's parents should be far more accepting of the fact that their daughter simply does not enjoy the flavour and the texture of mushrooms, since from what is textually being presented in The Third Mushroom, Ellie is definitely not at all an overly and annoyingly picky eater, that she has tried mushrooms repeatedly and therefore that Ellie not liking mushrooms should in my opinion be totally and completely appreciated and accepted by everyone). Short chapters (full of lively dialogue, gentle humour and an age appropriate and believable first person narration) make Jennifer L. Holm's text for The Third Mushroom readable and enjoyable (and especially my inner tween, my inner child from about the age of ten to fourteen has totally and utterly found pretty well everything about The Third Mushroom and in particular regarding Ellie and Melvin as characters delightfully charming, fun and engaging, even though part of me does kind of wish there were not a family pet being killed scenario present in The Third Mushroom, but it it what it is, and family pets do indeed die).

Now with regard to the STEM thematics of The Third Mushroom, I have actually enjoyed that part of Jennifer L. Holm's featured narrative quite a bit more than I have in The Fourteenth Goldfish and mainly so because Holm's and by extension of course also main protagonist Ellie's attitude towards science in general, towards scientific experimentation and discovery is a bit more positive, is a trifle more all-round acceptingly shown in The Third Mushroom, and that there fortunately is not a "scientific breakthroughs are wrong if misused or able to be misused by humans" philosophy present in The Third Mushroom (and which I did find a bit off-putting regarding the end of The Fourteenth Goldfish). But while my inner tween really wants a five star rating for The Third Mushroom, my older and critical adult reading self says "no" to five stars, because well, I just do not believe that an axolotl (that a relatively large fresh water salamander) would be caught and killed by a jellyfish (as fresh water jellyfish are very small, only consume zooplankton and are not nearly as potentially deadly as many salt water jellyfish can be), and having Jennifer L. Holm in The Third Mushroom have Ellie and Melvin use and axolotl specimen that has obviously been caught and killed by a jellyfish, well, that does not really make all that much sense and is in my opinion also scientifically in error (and I cannot really give a five star rating for that kind of an error, although my rating for The Third Mushroom will be four stars and as such nicely very warmly recommended).

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent follow-up to The Fourteenth Goldfish, though, I wonder what became of the actual 14th goldfish, Herschel?

I felt a bit let down when the theme of romance and dating manifested because that's so often the go-to in any older child/young adult story - it seems there has to be an element of romance. However, my disappointment didn't last long and I cheered internally at the end when Ellie is taking stock of the people in her life and realizes there should be more stories about friends because friendship is as important as romance, though my complaint from The Fourteenth Goldfish about her relationship with Briana remains unresolved.

Again, there's loads of science, plenty of intergenerational discourse, and examples of behaving in a (mostly) responsible manner. In addition, the first death a kid experiences is examined. Not recommended to those who have recently lost a pet. Great for just about anyone else, though!

[Liesl Shurtliff]

Read this aloud with my two boys, 9 and 11, and we all LOVED it. Laughed our heads off, then cried, then laughed again. It's not totally necessary to have read THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH to get this, but I highly recommend that you do. Both are fantastic middle-grade books, full of humor, heart, and some interesting science facts and history!

[Billie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey, Romance-reading friends! Jennifer Holm gets it. She has her middle school-aged protagonist read a collection of Harlequin/Silhouette novels left behind by her grandmother and not a single snarky, snobby comment is to be found. Thank you, Ms. Holm, for doing something so subtle and so important and so deeply appreciated by this Romance fan. You've sent the message that it's okay to enjoy Romance novels—not just for girls, but for guys, too. I know this was only a very, very small part of the book as a whole, but it's something that's seen so rarely that it left an inordinately large impression. THANK YOU.

The book would have been five-stars for me, if it weren't for the death of Jonas. It was very realistically and compassionately portrayed, but I just couldn't deal with it, especially since if he had been an indoor cat, his particular accident could have been avoided.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy young-adult books as much as the next person, and this one was a nice little story about friendship. What made me want to claw my eyes out was the inexcusable 'science' that was a large portion of this book. Ellie's grandfather makes a point of talking about his multiple PhD's, yet CAN'T REMEMBER HOW MANY LEGS AN AMPHIBIAN HAS. Also, the author claims that the axolotl (freshwater salamander found in lakes) in their experiment was apparently caught by a jellyfish (found in saltwater*). wtf. How hard is it to use google, Ms. Holm?!!

That's only the beginning of the cringe-worthy writing when it came to science. This book lost a star because of it.

I think it's fine for kids, as long as they're getting a solid education & you talk to them about how moronic the science experiments were in this book.

*Before you tell me that there are freshwater jellyfish: 1. I already know 2. They wouldn't be able to kill a salamander.

If you want to know more about jellyfish in Indiana:
https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/8588.htm

[ALEXX · Rating 2 out of 5]

No.

[Laura Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to @randomhousekids for the free book!
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for this charming sequel to THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH, which is on our @dartmouthmiddleschool choice #summerreading list. What great timing for this book to come out in September 4! .
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I just love Ellie, Melvin and Raj so it’s fun to spend more time with them! THE THIRD MUSHROOM is funny, highly readable and sure to be a big hit with kids in grades 3-7, especially those that read the first book.
Here’s what I love about this book:
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📚 STEM! Ellie and Melvin’s adventure is sure to spark the imagination of aspirational scientists. I also love how the end of the book includes their Gallery of Scientists with fun facts about each.
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📚 wonderful exploration of middle school relationships—if a boy and a girl are good friends, does that mean they should date? Raj and Ellie’s first date is fabulously awkward and cringe-y (as my Ss would say).
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📚 The librarian character Mrs. Barrymore!!! Just read the book. 🤗
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Ellie and her grandpa Melvin (famous scientist in a 14 yo body) are back and entering the county science fair. Their fruit fly experiment is wildly successful, but in the end the results are not what they expected. .
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#bookstagram #book #reading #bibliophile #bookworm #bookaholic #booknerd #bookgram #librarian #librariansfollowlibrarians #librariansofinstagram #booklove #booktography #bookstagramfeature #bookish #bookaddict #booknerdigans #booknerd #ilovereading #instabook #futurereadylibs #ISTElibs #TLChat #mgbooks

[Ms. B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story about Ellie and her ups and downs in middle school. Ellie is interested in all things science and pairs up with her scientist Grandpa (who is now in the body of a fourteen year-old as the result of a science experiment from the last book The Fourteenth Goldfish and has aged backwards) for the science fair. She also has a crush on her best friend Raj and must deal with the death of her beloved cat Raj.
With short chapters that make this accessible for all readers, what's not to love?
This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[₊˚ ⁀➴ kenzie ⠀❦ jacks’ version · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. My favorite character is Ellie again, and my favorite part was when she saw Melvin as a grandfather. It was really sad when Jonas died, but I like how Ellie tried her best to help him. It was also very nice of the neighbor to give his cat to her. Overall, I liked how they made a new discovery in this book.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Ahahaha! THE PUBERTY! Also, as a science nerd myself, I loved the middle grade science stuff.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading The Fourteenth Goldfish, in which Ellie Cruz's 76-year-old scientist grandfather, Dr. Melvin Sargarsky, holder of two PhDs, turned himself into a 13 year old boy. Needless to say, fun and some chaos ensured, but in the end, Melvin decided to leave and do some traveling.

Now 14, Melvin is back and enrolled as an 8th grader in the same middle school where Ellie is in 7th grade. Melvin hasn't changed much - he's still hungry all the time, as curmudgeon-y as ever, and still having difficulty dealing with "the Puberty," and still having trouble dealing with the fact that he can't drive a car. He's also brought home an axolotl from his travels which becomes the basis of a science fair project with Ellie (Axolotl are amphibians that have the ability to regenerate limbs). Getting permission to work after school in the new labs there, Melvin and Ellie experiment with feeding bits of the axolotl to fruit flies. When the fruit flies grow extra legs, they begin to wonder if their findings might lead to something important for humans.

Meanwhile, Ellie and her best friend Raj decide to see if they should take their relationship to the next level, and the two go on a date to the movies. When it doesn't work out, Ellie wonders if they have ruined the wonderful friendship they have. And speaking of friendships, Ellie's old best friend, Brianna, seems to be wondering back into Ellie's life. Does she want to be friends again?

At home, Ellie and her mother are really happy now that mom is remarried to Ben, who is kind absent for the most part in the book. Ellie's beloved cat Jonas has also found a companion in the neighboring cat and the two spend their days playing and roaming around. Sadly, though, Jonas is hit by a car, and even though Ellie and Melvin try to save him with a bit of axolotl, he is beyond saving.

Melvin (as a man) had never remarried or shown any interest in another woman after Ellie's grandmother passed away. To Ellie's surprise, she discovers her grandmother's love for romance novels, and begins reading through her collection, saved by Melvin. Now though, romance seems to be in the air again for Melvin when Ellie realizes he is flirting with the school librarian, Mrs. Barrymore - but how is that going to work out?

Ellie and Melvin are such great characters in this character-driven novel. They are well-developed, they have distinct personalities, problems, and interests, yet they handle what life throws at them so well. And what life throws at them are the same kinds to things that middle grade kids have to deal with everyday (well, maybe not their grandfathers transforming into teenage boys). Middle grade is a time a so much change and Holm really depicts it well here.

Since Melvin is a scientist (with 2 Phds), it is the ideal way to introduce some real STEM information into the book. First, by showing Ellie participating in a science fair project, even though she's a good math and science student already, and second, it gives Melvin a chance to tell Ellie about some important scientific discoveries and the people who made them. This is expanded at the back of the book under "Mellie's Gallery of Scientists" (Mellie = Melvin + Ellie) as well as Recommended Resources for Continuing the Conversation.

The Third Mushroom is such a fun book to read, and a worthy sequel to The Fourteenth Goldfish. I love the way the title doesn't make sense until you've almost reached the end of the book, and then wham! it all falls into place and makes sense. And I really hope there is a third novel, despite what happens at the end of this one.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

How exhilarating, Ellie is back and so is grandfather, and good friend Raj. Everyone has grown up a bit, yet Ellie is still passionate about doing science experiments with her grandfather. Raj finally asks her out on a date, this leads to a new turn in their friendship. This sequel to The Fourteenth Goldfish, is full of great humor, science, and of course the continued antics of Grandpa. Jenny Holm subtly portrays Ellie as slightly more mature, and growing stronger and wiser.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. So much sciencey goodness. After I finished, I read a bunch of stuff about Carolyn Herschel, a female astronomer who lived in the 1700s and discovered a bunch of comets and nebulae. Oh, and her brother discovered Uranus...no big deal. I think kids will love this book!

[Michal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish this book was longer... maybe lasting forever.

[Savannah]

AH-MAZING

[Miranda Paris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this sequel to The Fourteenth Goldfish and I want Grandpa to live forever!

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellie and her grandfather have become better friends since last year when her grandfather turned himself young again through a science experiment and attended Ellie’s middle school. In this sequel to The Fourteenth Goldfish, crusty teenage scientist (with two PhDs) Melvin Sagarsky returns.

Having her grandfather around has encouraged in Ellie a love for science. Yet what she discovers as his lab partner for the school science fair is far deeper than watching fruit flies sprout wings. “Failure is a part of experimentation,” Melvin says. You can always learn something from your mistakes. Although it may sound simple, this timely advice is just what Ellie needs to save her relationship with her best friend.

The book’s overall mood is light-hearted and fun, and it’s full of humorous situations: imagine going on a double date with your grandpa! But besides that, the many tender moments between Ellie and Melvin woven into this story make it stand out as an extraordinary work.

Elizabeth L. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fun follow up to the first book in this series, the 14th Goldfish, although it is totally not necessary to have read the first one.

Ellie’s grandfather got turned into a 14 year old boy, in the first book, and so that is where we pick up again.

Set in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ellie takes after her grandfather in her interest in science. Her best friend is a chess geek, and she loves her cat.

Typical middle school stuff, with a bit of science (magic like science), thrown in. There is a hint of romance, but only a hint, which is good.

There is a great quote, that sort of sums up the feel of this book.

I definitely believe in science, like my grandfather does. But a small part of me is curious about magic.

Because cats.

There has to be something magical involved with creating them. The fluffy tails, the way they snuggle into loaf shapes and sleep in the sun. Most of all the purring.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Allison Bush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this sequel! Filled with important themes for young (and old) people like: friendship, the risk of getting hurt in love, science vs. intangible chance, taking risks, and learning from failure.

“Just like in the natural world, friends come in all different genus and species. There are best friends, like Raj. And there are old friends, like Brianna, who are important, too. …
Then, of course, there are friends who defy classification. Like my grandfather. I’d even say he’s a new species all his own: favorite person.
Because he taught me that failure is okay. That experimentation is important in science.
And in life.”

[Becky]

A Youth Book But This Senior Loved It

This book is supposedly a children's book, but this senior loved it. The book, and its prequel, is creative, moves along quickly, has literature references, and is just a plain ol' good story. I highly recommend it for all ages. It is an A++ in my opinion.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. I especially appreciated her emphasis on the importance of friendship.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Jennifer Holm's writing..

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I erred on the side of higher star as I think it would be more enjoyable as a younger audience.

I like the sciencing and excitement about it. From an adult perspective, I'm a bit concerned about the grandfather encouraging risky medical experimentation on oneself. But otherwise the writing was positive and encouraging.

I read only this book, not the 14th Goldfish, and this book stands alone fine.

[Jessica S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. I read this because my daughter read it, loved it, and wanted to share it with me.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with Jennifer L. Holm when I read THE LION OF MARS last year. Like that book, THE THIRD MUSHROOM is fun, imaginative, and entertaining. Although it has a sad part, on the whole, the story is upbeat and humorous. The characters are likable, the plot is engaging, and the writing is buoyant. There's really nothing not to love about this quick, easy, smile-making read.

[Holly Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, yeah, I adored The Fourteenth Goldfish ("TFG") when I read an ARC back in 2014 when it came out. I didn’t know at the time that there would be a follow-up, and honestly don’t know if the author intended to write one at that time, but when I saw recently that The Third Mushroom ("TTM") was forthcoming, I jumped at the chance to participate in this tour. I swear that Jennifer Holm has some sort of magic in her that allows her to maintain her childlike sense of wonder and delight, and she has this crazy ability to sound exactly like a 13- or 14-year-old girl! I volunteer in my son’s elementary school library and have for the past five years, so when I read TFG I immediately suggested they buy it. In the years since then, I have recommended it to dozens of 4th and 5th graders, and I’ve never heard from one of them that they didn’t enjoy it. It’s somewhat of an easy sell once you make sure the kids know it’s by the author of Babymouse and Squish! It’s also currently on this year’s Elementary Battle of the Books list in my state (and of course Turtle in Paradise has been used multiple times), which made me inordinately happy.

So, you can see how I was pretty darn excited to read The Third Mushroom, and I have to say it was an absolute delight to be back with Ellie and Melvin (aka, Mellie)! I think I liked this even more than TFG, to be honest. We get the joy of waching Ellie and Melvin undertake science experiments, and we are introduced to some absolute rockstars of science. We get to see how close Ellie and Raj have become, and to see if they become even closer (yes, it’s a tease!). We get to experience Ellie’s first flutters of romantic feelings, including reading old Harlequin novels (hello, young me!). Most importantly, TTM helps teach the incredible lesson that failure is not just okay, it’s an integral part of our development as humans. This is not just an important lesson of science, but one all of us should learn and pass on. I have a perfectionist 10-year-old who hates to get or do something wrong, to disappoint any adult, to “fail” at something–so this is a lesson my husband and I have tried to instill in him (it’s still a work in progress, to be sure). It helps that my husband is himself a PhD chemist, so he’s able to give real-life examples of how his “failures” in the lab actually result in better experiments and better science. That’s exactly what we see in TTM, and it’s a lesson Ellie–like all of us–has to learn the hard way: by failing!

I would highly recommend this for any kid from about 4th through 7th grade, possibly even younger or older depending on skill level and interest. I would especially recommend this for those who, like my son, are perfectionists and feel that failing at a task somehow means they’ve failed as a person. I have enjoyed pushing TFG into the hands of young girls particularly, and I will do the same with TTM, so that they can see themselves as being just as capable of doing (and loving) science as Ellie is. Both books are just so enjoyable, playful yet also teaching important lessons, that it’s hard to imagine a kid for whom this wouldn’t be a good fit, to be honest. And really, all you have to do is say, “It’s by the author of Babymouse! Doesn’t that sound awesome?” It works, I promise ;)

Thanks so much to Rockstar Book Tours, Jennifer Holm, and Random House Kids for letting me take part in this blog tour for the utterly delightful The Third Mushroom!

Rating: 4 stars (probably seen in the night sky by William Herschel!)

**Disclosure: I received an early e-copy of this boo from the publisher for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary and reflects my honest rating and thoughts on the book.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to read a NetGalley digital ARC of this middle grade science fiction novel. I really enjoyed read The Fourteenth Goldfish several years ago, and so I was eager to get my hands on this sequel. In the first book, eleven-year-old Ellie is dealing with all of the changes in her social and academic life that come with adolescence when she discovers that her grandfather has somehow transformed himself into a teenage boy.

In this follow-up novel, Melvin (her teenage grandfather) has returned to the Bay area to live with Ellie’s family. Attending middle school as her cousin, Melvin is able to get back into the science lab to do his own research while helping Ellie with her science fair project. Ellie needs extra credit in science and having a lab partner who also has two PhDs will certainly help. In addition to the science fair project, Ellie is also experimenting in other areas of her life: dating a person vs just being friends, rekindling friendships from the past, and whether she can ever learn to like mushrooms.

This is a fun book to read and I think it will appeal to middle grade students who are starting to notice similar changes in their own lives. The book digs deeper into Ellie’s relationship with her grandfather, which has become closer since they’ve been spending this time together as teenagers. I like that she gets this different perspective into his life and feelings. There are some cute moments, though, as the age difference shows itself in their tastes in music, cars, and modern technology.

And, as before, I think it’s great to have a female main character that is interested in science. She also has a friend who is on the school’s chess team. This book has a lot of good messages without being too heavy for young readers.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellie and Melvin are back in this followup to The Fourteenth Goldfish. Melvin has been on the road for the past year and tired of it. He is also tired of "the puberty". So he and Ellie team up for the science fair. They have an axolotl that seems to have extra appendages so they feed bits of it to fruit flies to see what happens. Of course Melvin also experiments on himself.

Ellie is also dealing with the fact that her mom has remarried and her budding feelings for her best friend Raj. Should they become more than friends? When her cat Jonas gets sick, she and Melvin try to revive him with the axolotl to no avail. But is the axolotl having an affect on Melvin?

It was wonderful to revisit these characters. Melvin was just as awesome as the first time around and I truly enjoyed his budding romance with the school librarian and his angst about the puberty. I thought Ellie's situations were extremely realistic with maybe having feelings for a boy friend and resuming her friendship with an old friend. Things change in middle school. The part that really got me was the death of Jonas since I just recently went through the very same thing with my cat. That part seemed extremely realistic to me.

[Nicole M. Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction

This book was very similar to the first one, except that it was a bit more character-centric. The story really revolves around Ellie’s feelings as she considers dating her new best friend, reconnects with her old best friend, deals with the injury of her pet, and explores her own affinity for science. I felt like the characters had a bit less of a solid goal in this one, which made the plot a little slower and might put some kids off: In the first book, Ellie’s grandpa needed to get his hands on the immortal jellyfish so he could complete his research, but in this book the only real goal was to participate in a science fair (it does eventually get possibly tied in to something more important, but I don’t want to reveal how that turns out). I once again enjoyed the emphasis on science and inquiry, and Grandpa’s grumpy teenage antics are sometimes hilarious! I’d recommend this to kids who like contemporaries with a touch of science fiction.

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great to be back with Ellie and her 70+ year old grandfather Melvin who is in the body of a fourteen year old boy; a boy who eats everything in sight like a human garbage disposal, leaves all his clothes and wet towels on the bathroom floor, and is going through puberty. But he's also a brilliant former research scientist with a Ph.D, hence, how he ended up living in a 14 year old body. I love their relationship and the fact that Ellie loves science as much as Melvin. We could definitely use more books about girls loving science. The only other one that comes to mind right now is The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and its sequel The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate. Both coincidentally have a girl about Ellie's age who catalogs and studies the flora and fauna around her turn of the century Texas home with her scientist grandfather.