The Science of Breakable Things

THE SCIENCE OF BREAKABLE THINGS is a charming and delightful, emotional, meaningful, and thoroughly engaging read. It is full of hope and heartache and humor, clever footnotes, adorable illustrations, and a plethora of broken eggs. Ever since Natalie’s mom all but disappeared from her life, Natalie’s been looking for answers and for a way to fix things so that the mom she knew will return and replace the not-there version who spends most of her days in bed. Her new, overly enthusiastic science teacher’s suggestion that she participate in the local egg drop competition might not be such a bad one. It will give her just the opportunity she needs to help - that is, if she can win. Going it alone she doesn’t stand a chance, but with her best friend Twig and new friend Dari on her team, winning is a real possibility - even with drop ideas that contain glitter, marshmallows, and chocolate. Tae Keller created a sympathetic, relatable, likable, funny, flawed, and real character in Natalie. She put her character in a situation that forced her to grow up, to learn things she might not have wanted to learn, to adapt, to become more aware, more thoughtful, more understanding. But she didn’t make her go it alone. The author did an incredible job of keeping her story at just the right amounts of serious and fun. It is moving and heart-rending. But with a hashtag happy teacher, a friend who doesn’t know the meaning of a whisper, and a dad whose idea of fun is running errands, it is equally as lighthearted and hilarious as it is affecting. Aimed at a middle grade audience, THE SCIENCE OF BREAKABLE THINGS can be just as easily enjoyed by a young adult readership, as well as readers of most ages. It incorporates science in a way that is amusing and educational. It tackles emotionally tough issues. It introduces a bit of cultural diversity. It offers food for thought. It has some sweet and wonderful characters. And it is witty and smart and an amazingly great read.

My 9 year old loved this book. I guess I will have to read it to see why she fell in love with it.

A great book about how a girl deals with mom becoming isolated and depressed. I talked about how friendships form and how good friends can help you get through just about anything. It also puts things in perspective of a seventh grade student doing a research project, which is a pretty cool way to approach a book.

Both my mom and I loved the author’s book How to Trap a Tiger so this was an obvious choice for our next book to order. While I preferred the writing style of the author’s other book better, this was also very enjoyable and an easy read. I didn’t know what to expect going in to it and it was wonderful to see the perspective of a child who’s parent is suffering from depression. It reminded me of the ending of the movie Inside Out which was also a great surprise.

My 10 year old loves this authors books. Good reads for the developing mind

A moving, poignant, and funny book about a girl who deals with her mother's depression through an improbable plan to win an egg-drop contest. Hana navigates both new and existing friendships and difficult family dynamics in her quest to understand "the science of breakable things and how to protect them." This book will stay with readers, especially those who face depression or experience it in their families.

This captivating book follows a mid schooler through her naive attempts to deal with her mother's depression. This serious topic is addressed in a light hearted way through the eyes of the young girl and a fun story line. Can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

Compelling story for middle school student. Best read of our summer. Well written Book arrived quickly just in time before we sank into Covid summer boredom

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.

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.

My 11 year old daughter read this book in 2 days and said it was one of her favorite reads recently!

Depression. Isn’t it such a sad word. But this book right here copes with it. I really liked this book as it shows you the real thought of a middle schooler recommend it to anybody who is reading this 🤩🥳👌😍

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