The Fourteenth Goldfish Audio CD – Audiobook, Unabridged

"The Fourteenth Goldfish" is a book that children in the target age range should like. Jennifer Holm has combined several themes - the quest for the fountain of youth and that of an adult adjusting to living in a child's body and world without garnering unwelcome attention and questions - in the construction of this story. Quirky characters and some funny situations will appeal to youngsters' humor and to their sense of the absurd. As a result of experiences they have during the course of "The Fourteenth Goldfish", several characters learn a lesson or experience an epiphany.

The language used in "The Fourteenth Goldfish" is not complex and is appropriate for young readers or for a preschooler read-aloud selection. The first person narrative makes this book seem more "real" and not simply a made-up tale. The storyline is not so complex as to frustrate less skilled readers, but neither is it so simplistic as to bore advanced readers.

The positive light in which Jennifer Holm presented Ellie's budding interest in science is excellent. Readers may identify with Ellie, the eleven-year old protagonist, as they face some of the same challenges growing-up as Ellie does. Among other things, Nellie must deal with a single-working mother; the difficulty of having after-school care; changes in friendship as `tweens mature; an absent, noncustodial father; and the impact of science and research on society. Ellie's love of and respect for family shone throughout the pages of "The Fourteenth Goldfish". In several poignant passages, Ellie discovers the extent to which her grandfather misses deceased her grandmother.

This is a book that parents can feel comfortable reading to or giving to their children who are able to read themselves. Adults will find "The Fourteenth Goldfish" amusing. The target audience should like this book very much.

There are a lot of books and movies that turn on the old adult-kid switcheroo. Many are entertaining, but lots of them are slow to develop, are padded out in order to reach book/feature film length, can't settle on a tone, or wander around in search of a coherent plot to complement the premise. None of that is a problem here. It may sound odd, but this book struck me as mainly character driven.

Our heroine is a sharp, wry, engaging narrator. Grandfather is a wonderful melding of crotchety, obsessed and bemused. Supporting players have distinct personalities and are allowed room to shine, even in their cameos. The result is that instead of the author laboring mightily to move around the pieces of a cumbersome plot, we are treated to a shaggy dog story with a surplus of small insights, pithy observations, and wry insights; all of this in the company of an engaging cast of characters.

Despite the generally light treatment, we touch on family issues, school issues, peer and friendship issues and a number of other subjects of interest to the target readership. This is leavened by generous doses of humor and the interesting premise.

As if that weren't enough, the author makes a sincere and generally successful effort to make the story, ("...a cure for aging"), seem plausible in a way that will engage the scientific curiosity of a young reader. None of the story turns on magic or curses or other such easy MacGuffins. Rather, we are treated to bits and pieces of science fact and history that add another level of interest to an already interesting story.

It helps that the book takes off like a rocket. There is no coy teasing about who that teen stranger is. It's grandfather; now let's get on with story.Read more ›

First, let's talk about the cover. Let's face it, goldfish and test tubes just aren't all that attractive. Now that I've read the novel, I can appreciate the cover art, but it didn't draw me in. My anticipation of reading this was tempered by the title and cover. However, since the author's reputation precedes her, I was undeterred. I've never met a Jennifer L. Holm book I didn't love, and The Fourteenth Goldfish is no exception.

Now, let's talk about the book! Ellie and Melvin are some of the most interesting people I've met in a while. Ellie's life is in flux. Sixth grade isn't going so well since her best friend is slowly becoming her ex-best friend. Things get even weirder one night when her mother comes home with a teenage boy who bears a strong resemblance to her grandfather, Melvin. Turns out he is her grandfather Melvin, a scientist who has devoted years of research to searching for the fountain of youth -- and, evidently, he's found it.

Holm has a talent for characterization, and she's crafted some doozies with Ellie and Melvin. Melvin ranks high on my list of coolest grandfathers ever. Given that he's at once a cantankerous old man and a teenager who marches to his own drum, he occupies a place all his own. It's interesting how advanced age creates a non-conformist, individualist attitude that translates into a bizarrely funny yet totally awesome form of swagger. This can be seen in Melvin's fearless fashion sense. Throughout the course of the book, he wears anything from miniature versions of old-man polyester pants, Ellie's pink ponytail holder, and, when he has nothing clean, he even dips into his "mother's" closet.

Ellie's a smart girl in a completely believable way.Read more ›