Review: Billy Bobble Makes A Magic Wand by R.S. Mellette!

Title: Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand

Author: RS Mellette

Format: egalley

Pub. Date: December 8th 2014

Source: Mother Daughter Book Reviews.



Book Description via Goodreads:

"Everyone needs a little magic in their life."

Twelve-year-old Billy Bobble and his best friend Suzy Quinofski didn't mean to change the universe. Billy, a quantum physics prodigy, just wanted to find a way to help his hoarding, schizophrenic mother – and maybe impress a coven of older girls in high school. Suzy, his intellectual equal, wanted to help her friend and cling to her last remnant of childhood, a belief in magic. Together they made Billy a real, working, magic wand, and opened a door to the Quantum World where thoughts create reality, and all things – good and bad – are possible.

Review:

★★★

I think this would have been a book that I would have liked a lot when I was younger. There's a lot of action and suspense, and it's overall a pretty entertaining read. I'm seeing it labeled as a children's book, but personally I think that it would work better in the young adult genre, because there are a lot of smart explanations and science bits that might be a bit off putting to a younger reader.

This book is a relatively short one at about 200 or so pages, but it's not necessarily a quick reading. The beginning chapters were a bit slow moving and rough for me. I'm the first one to admit that I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to science and math. While I appreciated that the author tried to take the time to explain the background information and science behind the story's adventures, it took me a while to get through it. I'm glad that I stuck through to read the rest of it, but I can see people setting it down right away.

Once you get past that, the story picks up and is super fun. Both main characters are extremely likable and crazy smart. This book takes the fantasy aspect of magic and blends it well with fact-based science. I can see kids and young adults who love science picking this up and loving it, in the same vein as the Artemis Fowl books.

Unrelated to the novel itself, I really like the cover for this. It's quirky and fun, just like the book inside of it. It's eye-catching and I gotta say, I love the flamingo.

This book is worth reading, and I think science kids will like it a lot more than I did. The beginning's a bit rough, but if you stick through, you're rewarded with a fun magic adventure.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.