Monday, November 10, 2014

The Center of Everything


The Center of Everything
by Linda Urban
208 pages; ages 9-12
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013

Good thing I dug down to the bottom of my book basket because I unearthed this treasure. The Center of Everything is a fun read, best accompanied by a mug of hot cocoa and a glazed donut [in a pinch a fritter will do].

Don't believe me? Then listen up, because this is how the book opens:
In the beginning, there was the donut.
At first, the donut was without form - a shapeless blob of dough, fried in fat of one sort or another.
We learn that the Ancient Greeks ate donuts, as did the Mayans and Vikings. And we meet Ruby Pepperdine - who is not eating a donut but is getting ready for the town's annual Bunning Day parade. Ruby is twelve. She has made a wish. And by the end of the day she hopes that her wish comes true, because she has really messed up. She's on the outs with her best friend Lucy, her just-becoming-friend Nero, and is buried under a whole lot of guilt about the last thing she did - or didn't do- for her grandma.

Inside-out torus (animated, small)
There's even a bit of math tucked in with the sixth-grade drama. Ruby learns that donuts are actually tori (one torus, two tori). No equations, but a pretty good explanation about the donut shape. Ruby even tosses in a bit of wisdom about the theory of relativity.

I don't want to spoil the ending except to say it's sweet.

Today is Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday round-up. Drop byShannon's blog to see what other books are under review. Advance Reader's Copy provided by publisher.

9 comments:

  1. I had seen this one but was unfamiliar with the storyline. Thanks for filling in the holes (sorry, I couldn't resist). The cover now makes sense, and I hope to read this one for myself before year's end.

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    1. You've still got a couple months... it's worth the read and you'll enjoy it, holes and all.

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  2. This book sounds delicious. I can see why you recommend reading it accompanied by hot cocoa and a glazed donut. Chocolate glazed? Yum! I like the fact that the book's ingredients include math and the theory of relativity.

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    1. absolutely chocolate glazed! I was happily surprised by the mini-lecture on tori... what fun.

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  3. I haven't read this, but have seen it and then it kind of fell off my radar. Thanks for the reminder. I should check it out.

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    1. mine just fell into the donut hole in the bottom of my reading basket... and I'm glad I fished it out and finished reading it.

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  4. This sounds pretty intriguing! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. I always mean to read more contemporary than I actually get to, and this one sounds like I'll regret missing. So, I won't. :D Thanks for the recommend!

    --Suzanne
    www.suzannewarr.com

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