The Atomic Weight of Secrets: Review

Title: The Atomic Weight of Secrets

Author: Eden Unger Bowditch

Release Date: March 2011

Published By: Bancroft Press

Pages: 339

Goodreads Rating: 3.70 stars

Review: The men in black took away five children of famous inventors - Jasper and Lucy Modest, Wallace Banneker, Noah Canto-Sagas, and Faye Vigyanveta - to a small schoolhouse in Dayton, Ohio without any explanation. Not even their teacher, Ms. Brett, knows why. Things only get stranger from there, and the children begin to suspect the men in black have kidnapped their parents. But what if the men aren't trying to hurt them? What if they want to protect them? And... from what?

This is the kind of middle grade fiction that people of any age can enjoy, whether you're ten years old or thirty. In THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF SECRETS, Eden Unger Bowditch tells a story that is at once quirky and meaningful, mixing the emotional tales of the characters with the author's own brand of humor that really shines through. Light and dark is balanced very well in here so that even though serious events are going on, the overall tone of the book is far from depressing.

One thing I felt that would have made this book an even more enjoyable experience would be a faster plot pace. In general I don't mind if a book is particularly fast or slow, but I can't help but feel that this one would be better off with a little more action than there was. The synopsis made it sound like this would have fast-moving events but there wasn't as much of that as I expected. This isn't necessarily a bad thing and probably is just my personal taste.

THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF SECRETS is classic middle grade, displaying elements of humor and solemnity that would appeal to a wide audience. The characters are richly developed and transformed reading this novel into a touching and moving experience that may just bring tears to your eyes in parts. Although I did wish for a somewhat faster pace, this is an excellent read that fans of such middle grade lit as The Mysterious Benedict Society should look into!


I received a free copy of this book for review. This is no way affected my review, which is 100% honest.