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Tae Keller

The Science of Breakable Things Paperback – May 21 2019

by Tae Keller (Author)

4.6 643 ratings

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Natalie's uplifting story of using the scientific process to "save" her mother from depression is what Booklist calls "a winning story full of heart and action."

Eggs are breakable. Hope is not.

When Natalie's science teacher suggests that she enter an egg drop competition, Natalie thinks that this might be the perfect solution to all of her problems. There's prize money, and if she and her friends wins, then she can fly her botanist mother to see the miraculous Cobalt Blue Orchids--flowers that survive against impossible odds. Natalie's mother has been suffering from depression, and Natalie is sure that the flowers' magic will inspire her mom to love life again. Which means it's time for Natalie's friends to step up and show her that talking about a problem is like taking a plant out of a dark cupboard and giving it light. With their help, Natalie begins an uplifting journey to discover the science of hope, love, and miracles.

A vibrant, loving debut about the coming-of-age moment when kids realize that parents are people, too. Think THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH meets THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR * KIRKUS REVIEWS * THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY *

"Natalie's Korean heritage is sensitively explored, as is the central issue of depression."
--Publishers Weekly

"A compassionate glimpse of mental illness accessible to a broad audience."
--Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

"Holy moly!!! This book made me feel."
--Colby Sharp, editor of The Creativity Project, teacher, and cofounder of Nerdy Book Club

Reading age

8 - 12 years
Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Grade level

3 - 7
Lexile measure

840L
Dimensions

13.18 x 1.98 x 19.53 cm
Publisher

Yearling
Publication date

May 21 2019
ISBN-10

1524715697
ISBN-13

978-1524715694
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From the Publisher


	WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER	THE SCIENCE OF BREAKABLE THINGS	JENNIFER CHAN IS NOT ALONE
Read all the books from Tae Keller!	A sparkling tale about the power of stories and the magic of family.	An uplifting story about science, family, and friendship.	A gripping story about a girl who is alienated by her friends . . . for believing in aliens.

Product description

Review

An NPR Great Read of the Year
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Reader Best Book of the Month
A Brightly Best Children's and YA Books of March 2018

“Natalie is an engaging narrator whose struggles at home and with her peers ring true.” —Deborah Hopkinson, award-winning author

“Inspiring, emotional, and heartwarming.” —Melissa Savage, author of Lemons

“A compassionate glimpse of mental illness accessible to a broad audience.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred

"Beautifully crafted metaphors, a theme of mending old friendships and creating new ones, and an empowering teacher to a variety of readers. . . . A winning story full of heart and action.” —Booklist, starred

“Natalie’s Korean heritage is sensitively explored, as is the central issue of depression.” —Publishers Weekly

“Natalie learns that, as with the egg, people, too, are fragile and need support and padding to break their falls. An emotional story that explores parental depression with realism and empathy.” —School Library Journal

"A sweet and hope-filled story.” —Brightly

"Holy moly!!! This book made me feel." —Colby Sharp, editor of The Creativity Project

About the Author

TAE KELLER was born and raised in Honolulu, where she grew up on purple rice, Spam musubi, and her halmoni’s tiger stories. She is the Newbery Medal-winning author of When You Trap a Tiger and The Science of Breakable Things. She lives in Seattle. Visit her at TaeKeller.com, follow her monthly love letters at bit.ly/lovetae, and find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Mr. Neely just wrote our first lab book assignment on the board in his scrunched- up, scratchy handwriting, and he’s getting all excited about this scientific process stuff. I’m not sure why he feels the need to use hashtags and spell perfectly innocent words with a z, but he’s one of those teachers you don’t bother questioning.

He has big plans for this lab notebook. Apparently, he thinks it’s important to teach students “dedication to long- term projects,” and this assignment is his grand solution. Basically, we’re supposed to observe something that interests us and spend all year applying the scientific process to our capital- Q Question.

As soon as we sat down, he passed out these dorky old composition notebooks and said, “This will be your Wonderings journal! You will record lab notes and assignments, and document the greatest scientific journey of all time— your scientific journey!”

We all stared, trying to figure out if he was for real or not. He was.

“You’ll spend this year developing your own scientific process, and it all starts with one question—that thing that sparks you to life.” Mr. Neely made a weird explosion gesture with his hands, and someone in the back of the room giggled, which only seemed to encourage him. “By the end of the year, I’ll be the one learning. From you!”

Mr. Neely is a new teacher, so he’s still all optimistic and stuff, but personally I think this assignment’s a lost cause. Last year, our English teacher, Mrs. Jackson, thought it’d be really great for us to keep journals. The only requirement: fifty pages by the end of the year, written from the heart. If you haven’t guessed already, that just resulted in everyone writing all fifty pages the day before the journals were due. I mostly filled mine with song lyrics, copied in my biggest, sloppiest handwriting.

And technically, this is supposed to be homework, but I don’t see why I shouldn’t get a head start. Without further ado, dearest lab notebook, I present Natalie Napoli’s Scientific Observations:1
• Mr. Neely waves his arms in big circles when he talks, which makes him look like an overeager hula dancer. His white button-down—bright against his dark brown skin—wrinkles as he moves.
• He tells us he wants us to “embrace the joys of science.”
• Mikayla Menzer raises her hand.
• Mikayla Menzer answers without being called on. She says, “Science is literally the joy of my life. I am literally embracing it right now.”
• Mikayla Menzer is not literally embracing anything. She’s just sitting at her desk, catty-corner to mine, with her hands clasped in front of her, and her thick dark braid twisting over her shoulder.
• Mikayla Menzer smells like sunscreen, which kind of makes the entire classroom smell like sunscreen, and the air in here is damp and hot. I wish Fountain Middle had air-conditioning.
• I wish we had enough money for me to go to Valley Hope Middle, which does have AC, but now that Mom’s “sick,” Dad says we need to “tighten our belt a notch.”
• And anyway, Twig’s here, even though her family can definitely afford Valley Hope, so I guess this place isn’t so bad.2
• Mr. Neely is saying my name, but I haven’t been listening, so I just nod at him and give him my best I’m embracing science smile.
• Mr. Neely says, “I’m glad you’re having so much fun with the assignment, but making observations is supposed to be homework, Natalie. Please pay attention in class.”
• I am paying attention.
• And Mikayla Menzer still smells like sunscreen.

1 Only the most brilliant observations you’ll ever read. Imagine you’re hearing a drumroll right now. Go on, imagine it.

2 Twig: best friend in the entire galaxy. (Her words.)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yearling (May 21 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1524715697
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1524715694
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 204 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.18 x 1.98 x 19.53 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #97,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #521 in Children's Books on Parents
- #755 in Children's Books on Difficult Discussions
- #2,301 in Children's Books on Friendship

Customer Reviews:
4.6 643 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Tae Keller

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TAE KELLER grew up in Honolulu, where she wrote stories, ate Spam musubis, and participated in her school’s egg drop competition. (She did not win.) After graduating from Bryn Mawr College, she moved to New York City to work in publishing, and she now has a very stubborn Yorkie and a multitude of books as roommates.

Subscribe to her newsletter for writing updates and exclusive content: bit.ly/taekellernews

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

643 global ratings

5 star		77%
4 star		15%
3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from other countries

Hayden Quinn

The reader's heart being one of the breakable things for sure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 25, 2022

Verified Purchase

This is a beautiful book! Depression is authentically portrayed through a kid's eyes, and it's heartbreaking. There's also still plenty of typical kid-friendly stuff with some fun subplots and friendship stuff.

Kindle Customer

Story is too slow

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

Whilst I appreciate the life lessons being taught in this story - talking things through with friends, family, or therapist. I found the storyline wasn't written in a captivating way. My boys and I lost interest and haven't finished the book. I think the moral of the story and the message it sends is good. It just needs to be delivered in a more story way than as a diary.

Dragos grigore

Thanks

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

Thanks

Zoya D

A book for all ages

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on October 26, 2020

Verified Purchase

It's a quick light read that covers some heavy topics. Natalie's mom suffers from depression and Natalie doesnt really understand it. Most people don't and she's in middle school. But through her struggles to reconnect with her Mom, she uncovers the strength in her friendships, her family, and herself. And the fact that it talks so much about science and scientific inquiry is a big plus too. I smiled, I cried, I truly felt this book. It's a must read for both school kids and adults alike.

3 people found this helpful

Kate Bell

A light read with some heavy themes

Reviewed in Spain 🇪🇸 on May 29, 2019

Verified Purchase

This story takes a family with some unresolved feelings about their heritage, a depressed mother, a science experiment, and a couple of quirky friends and mixes them all together. The result is a surprisingly coherent book, written simply enough, and with cute features like lists and drawings, that even kids aged 9 or 10 can read it. I'd recommend it for kids who could use a light understanding of depression, nothing too dark, with themes of late primary/early middle school like friendship troubles thrown in.

See all reviews

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