THE SCIENCE OF BREAKABLE THINGS

Jennifer Kim narrates this touching story about a seventh grader who is grappling with a parent's mental illness. For her science class, Natalie has two year-long tasks: deciding on and implementing a research project and regularly writing in an observation journal. The journal employs the scientific method and provides the framework for the audiobook. For her research project, Natalie enters an egg-drop competition, hoping to win and use the prize money to hunt down an elusive cobalt blue orchid as a gift for her mother, a botanist, who is suffering from depression. Kim doesn't drastically differentiate character voices, so dialogue is sometimes hard to follow. However, her voice is engaging throughout as she speaks in a friendly tone, even when discussing tough topics. S.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2018]