George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking
by Lucy Hawking and Stephen Hawking with Christophe Galfard
Illustrated by Garry Parsons
Novelist Lucy Hawking has teamed up with her famous father, astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, to write a terrific science fiction book for kids and middle grade readers. They get further assistance from Christophe Galfard and the book is illustrated by Garry Parsons. Their first effort is George’s Secret Key to the Universe
Next door to George’s home stands an old abandoned house, its yard and structure long neglected after the old man who had lived there disappeared. One night George pursues his pet pig, which had broken through a hole in the fence, into the overgrown yard. He sees lights are on and his pig has just dashed into the house through an open door. As he catches his pig, he is discovered by a girl, a bit younger, but close to his own age, who is not the least bothered by the pig. She is Annie. George soon meets the girl’s father, Eric, also not bothered by the presence of the pig.
George discovers that his new neighbors have a secret. Not an evil secret, but a fantastic secret of great power. They possess the most powerful computer on earth that opens windows into the universe. Eric is an astrophysicist and uses this computer, named Cosmos, to learn about the distant objects in outer space. He and Annie persuade George to sit down and they gaze through a window created by Cosmos and see far out into space, witnessing the birth of a star. Pressed by Eric to keep Cosmos a secret, George gladly agrees, inspired by the great vastness of outer space.
The next day trouble begins. George accidentally blurts out in his science class that he has seen into space with his neighbor’s computer. His new science class teacher, a strange, cool and cruel man becomes immediately interested. Dr. Graham Reeper, or the Greeper, as the students call him, suddenly changes his attitude toward George and tries to get more information. But George realizes he has broken his promise to Eric and tries not to reveal any more. Then, when Cosmos goes missing, George suspects the Greeper and tries to rescue the computer. Adventures into outer space ensue.
I enjoyed this book start to finish. I learned absolutely amazing science. Nowhere do the Hawkings talk down to children. But the book wasn’t just science shoehorned into a story with kids. If that were all it was, I’d not have been so enthusiastic reading it. Everything about it was excellent. It’s perfect for kids from 3rd grade through middle school ages.
When science is introduced into the plot, there are little sections with explanations and pictures to make the concepts clear and to add to the wonder and excitement of studying science. There are photographs and computer simulations of objects in space that are just amazing. Even the sections about black holes are made perfectly clear. Astronomy was never so delightful.
There is a sequel, which is true of all children’s books these days. Now, my duty is to hunt it down. It’s titled George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt. The product desciption from Amazon says:
George’s best friend, Annie, needs help. Her scientist father, Eric, is working on a space project — and it’s all going wrong. A robot has landed on Mars but is behaving very oddly. And now Annie has discovered something weird on her dad’s supercomputer.Is it a message from an alien? Could there be life out there? How do you find a planet in outer space? And if you could talk to aliens, what would you say?An action-packed roller-coaster ride into a dramatic treasure hunt across the cosmos, this terrific adventure is FILLED with the LATEST scientific knowledge about our Universe, including special essays from some of the top scientists in the world!
Life in Space? Oh, cool! I just finished another great book called Life on Earth — and Beyond: An Astrobiologist’s Quest
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