An ambitious, complex rewrite of the ground rules of science and religion.
In Spadoni’s debut novel, a successful businessman reveals himself as a man from the future and lays out a new outlook on science and strategies to save the human race from ruin.
In the tradition of Og Mandino and Dan Millman, Spadoni uses a fantasy narrative to put across a revised concept of life, the universe and everything—and the business acumen required to make the most of it. The book’s subtitle, “The Fundamental Nature of the Universe,” is daunting, but the book itself is quite slender. Protagonist and lecturer Miles Manta, a San Francisco entrepreneur with the proverbial golden touch, has founded the Trek Group, a regular brainstorming meeting for outstanding CEOs. At their latest conclave, Miles drops a bombshell: He’s come to the realization that he’s actually a man from the future, perhaps as much as four centuries hence. This epiphany, he says, came about gradually, based on his anomalous recallof events and social changes yet to happen. He proves his power by predicting an atomic holocaust in Afghanistan, hours before it transpires. Later, he mounts a presentation over a series of meetings. He says that part of the reason that human progress went askew is because the scientific establishment adopted some badly flawed fundamental theories of reality, chiefly Einstein’s: The dreaded, fusion-based H-bomb is, in fact, unworkable, a propaganda hoax. In truth, he says, the universe operates on a “Spirogrid” system of Newtonian motion that dispenses with quantum physics. As a result, a vastly powerful, inexpensive energy technology awaits discovery, which will bring about a better tomorrow. This dense, earnest novel includes Manta’s “handouts,”which try to make a real-life case for this cosmology and require some knowledge of calculus to fully comprehend. Readers of a Libertarian or neoconservative bent may wish that the book had more strongly emphasized how free enterprise can implement Manta’s miracles, as it paints governments as impotent, partisan bureaucracies.There’s also a strong Christian component to the story, mostly shoehorned into one chapter on Manta’s home life, which contains creationism arguments and Bible citations. However, the author recommends up front that atheists and agnostics skip that chapter altogether—a rather magnanimous statement in this era of profitable, evangelical end-times literature.
An ambitious, complex rewrite of the ground rules of science and religion.Pub Date: March 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0989000307
Page Count: 166
Publisher: 3rd Notch Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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