Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo

Questions abound as three good friends enter their school's science fair. Is repeating an experiment to prove validity wise scientific practice? Which evidence is accurate in Elias's science project? Does baroque music affect plant growth? Who is sending secret admirer emails to Honoria? Will Shohei find a way to be comfortable with his Japanese heritage? Elias, Honoria, and Shohei navigate the vicissitudes of their young teenaged years with resilience. The use of three narrators heightens the impact of Smith's novel. Events are presented from three different points of view, and the listener becomes aware of how varied the perceptions of a single incident can be. The voices, fresh and heartfelt, are reflective of teenaged minds, emotions, and humor. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

November 17, 2003
Set at a rigorous private school in Chicago, Smith's sparkling debut offers three seventh-grade narrators, each of them precocious, intelligent and wickedly funny: jazz-loving Honoria, who keeps two meat-eating piranhas and serves as the public defender in the school's student court; Johann Elias (his siblings all bear the names of Bach's relatives), the only one in the family who doesn't adore science; and Shohei, an adopted Japanese boy whose hilariously earnest parents are trying to shove his "heritage" down his throat ("Your ancestors are speaking to you," his Irish-American mother says tearfully. "We're going to help you hear"). As the story opens, the three best friends face two dilemmas. First, Elias has a crush on Honoria, who has a crush on Shohei, who wants to help Elias win Honoria. They also grapple with science-fair projects: Honoria tries to train her piranhas to prefer bananas, while Elias and Shohei each try to confirm an earlier finding by one of Elias's genius older brothers, that classical music helps plants grow. But Elias's experiment puts his brother's work in question, and the crusty science teacher assumes that Elias's study must be faulty. This conflict leads to a showdown in which Elias faces suspension unless he recants his findings, a predicament he compares to Galileo's fate. Can Honoria, acting as Elias's "attorney," come up with another solution? Readers will identify with these smart characters and enjoy the vicarious attendance at their idiosyncratic school. Ages 10-13.