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| Publisher's Hardcover ©2015 | -- |
| Paperback ©2016 | -- |
Gr 4-6 What if you had the power to bring plants, animals, even humans back to life? Thirteen-year-old Fiona North and her twin brother Fenton are forced to confront this question when they discover a great ball of light during a storm. The pulsing, glowing light is extraordinary not just because it's unique, but because it can bring things back to life or at least to "undeath." The twins start with small experimentsdead insects and micebut soon they can't resist bringing back their dog and then their Grandpa Wade. But what do you do with an undead dog and grandpa? And what happens if the powerful ball of light ends up in the wrong hands? This science fiction story is set in rural Montana and begins with an attention-grabbing prologue, "A Handy Guide to Bringing Back the Dead (Take 1)." Fiona is a thoughtful narrator, although at times the story is held back by her slightly moralistic ramblings. Thankfully, the amusing characters, action, and humor keep the narrative engaging. Holmes's sketchy black-and-white illustrations are dotted throughout, as though they were drawn by Fiona and taped into a journal. The dramatic ending may leave readers brimming with unanswered questions about the effects of the ball and the future of the North family. The descriptions of the undead are gross and humorous, rather than scary, making this a fun book for the younger zombie-loving set. Recommended for general purchase.— Amy Seto Musser, Denver Public Library
Horn Book (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)During a tremendous storm, twelve-year-old twins Fenton and Fiona find a ball of light with the power to restore life to the dead--sort of. They experiment on the deceased family dog before moving on to digging up their grandfather, with mixed results. This comic science-fiction romp explores themes of ethical science experimentation and family forgiveness. Field guidestyle illustrations appear throughout.
ALA Booklist (Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2015)What would you do if you discovered a ball of light able to resurrect the dead? For Fiona and Fenton North, the answer is scientific experiments. First the 12-year-old twins resurrect insects and a worm, then a favorite dog, and finally their grandfather, a drunk who made their father's life miserable but who is sorely missed by his wife, their grandmother, who has withdrawn from the world. Setting his story realistically in the present day on a farm in southern Montana and making the family's fractured connections believable, Kuhlman also asks readers to accept a wide range of undeadness. A maple tree returns as part apple. The worm grows legs. The resurrected dog is mostly skeleton, lacking nearly all the affectionate and playful qualities he once had. Grandpa, at least, is better preserved. This faintly macabre story has plenty of humorous moments and will surely leave readers wondering about life and death and the stages in between.
School Library Journal (Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2014)
Wilson's Children's Catalog
Kirkus Reviews
Horn Book (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)
ALA Booklist (Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2015)
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Picture This . . .
It’s just past midnight, and my brother, Fenton, and I are pushing a wheelbarrow holding our undead grandfather, who we dug up at a cemetery a mile from our farm. There’s one of us on each handle—pushing a sort-of-dead guy is a two-kid job.
We are on a tar and gravel road, so pebbles crunch under the wheelbarrow’s wheel—maybe this will help you see it inside your head. We pass by houses and farms, some with unattended cows. Cows at night, with their dark eyes and splotchy designs, look like creatures from another planet.
Fenton and I stop pushing Grandpa Wade so we can rest.
“You’re such a girl,” my brother says to me. “I could have gone much farther before resting.” But he’s shaking blood into his arms just like I’m doing.
“And you’re such a donkey butt,” I say. I try to make a donkey sound but blow it. Mr. Ed with a bad head cold, let’s call it.
Anyway.
It had been cloudy all day, but when I check the sky I see stars glittering above us. We live in a small farm town, so nothing blocks our view of the sky. That night, the night Fenton and I commit grave robbery for the sake of our family, it seems like the stars are packed ten deep per square foot of sky.
Awe-mazing.
“Stars,” my grandfather says, pointing at the sky with a crooked finger. He died three years ago in a car wreck, and by all rights he had given up his star-seeing privileges. But a miracle happened, and now he’s seeing stars again.
Watching Grandpa watch the stars, it hits me that I should never take anything for granted, like seeing stars fill up the sky on a warm night in May—and a hundred other things and people I love. Because one day it could all be gone, and if I’m waiting on a miracle to bring it back, I might be waiting for a very long time.
Excerpted from Great Ball of Light by Evan Kuhlman
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
A pulsing ball of light gives two kids the astonishing ability to bring things back to life in this “eerie and hopeful” (Kirkus Reviews) and hugely fun look at what they’ll do to make their family whole again, from the author of The Last Invisible Boy.
After a lightning strike, when twin brother and sister Fenton and Fiona find a ball of light in their backyard, things get…weird. Especially when Fenton figures out it can bring things back to life. Everything from bugs, to trees, to their old dog Scruffy, to…well…people. Namely, their grandfather. Because they really do miss him, and more than that, their father and their grandfather have unsettled business to take care of. But be warned: bringing things back from the dead gets a little more complicated when they stick around.