How do you think Melvin would fit in at YMS?.What details would you suggest for a Law of Friendship?.The second attempt didn't go as planned.What is an early bird? Are any of you early birds?.Why did Raj become an assistant to Melvin?.88: 'But maybe there's also a little magic in cooking taking all the plain old ingredients and turning them into comfort and memory.' Do you agree/disagree? What is a favorite recipe in your house? How has Ellie's house changed with Melvin there? Do you think you would like Melvin staying at your house? Why/Why not?.Does Melvin seem happier now that he is younger? Why /why not?.What is one of the things about Ellie's grandmother that Ellie learned from Melvin?.If you were to find out more about a historical figure, who would you choose & why? (Seventh & eighth graders can share who they were for the wax museum.).Would a typical scientist have a fixed-mindset or a growth mindset? (Fixed Mindset vs.According to Melvin, what is the most powerful tool of the scientist?.Who is Jonas Salk, and why is he important to us today?.

What is Melvin's favorite food? What are your favorite foods?.Why is Melvin upset after looking through the science textbook?.How do you think Melvin will do in middle school? (Discuss both academically & socially.).

Do you believe Melvin's story? Why/why not?.

How is the conversation between the teenager and Ellie's mom unusual?.

Why isn't Ellie sure that Brianna is her best friend anymore? *Discuss how sometimes we naturally grow away from people based on our interests/schedules changing.

Do you have a hobby or activity or a sport that you would call a passion? If so, what is it?

Ellie's parents want her to find her passion.

Have you experienced the death of a pet? Are you willing to share the circumstances? How did it affect you and other members of your family?.

Why did Starlily give each student a goldfish? Do you think that was a good idea? Why/Why not?.

Please note: This review is based on the final, hardcover book provided by the publisher, Random House Books for Young Readers, for review purposes. This book won’t make quite as much sense if it’s read as a stand alone, although it would still be very enjoyable. One caveat is that both books, “The Fourteenth Goldfish” and this one should be read together. The readers even learn the truth that it’s dangerous for cats to go outside on their own. Readers learn that sometimes you need to keep trying things, even if you don’t like them at first, because that’s how life is. Loose ends are tied up, Ellie has learned and grown in the story, and Melvin gets a perfect ending. The ending is fabulous and feel-good and will make readers smile. While Melvin is cantankerous, he has a soft side, and Holm takes readers through his comforting Ellie when she experiences loss. Holm is talented at creating characters who are multi-dimensional.

For example, when Ellie and her best friend Raj go on a date, it doesn’t work out the way they think it will.Įllie also manages to reconnect with a friend she had stopped being friends with, and Holm shows readers that there can be different kinds of friends. But even more than that, she writes about problems that middle school kids, and older grade school kids, and even high school kids might have. Holm writes about science in a manner that will have readers wanting to do their own cool experiments. They decide to experiment with the axolotl for the science experiment, but when Melvin uses himself as a subject (after beginning with wingless fruit flies that surprisingly grow wings), things get strange. The axolotl is unusual because it can regrow body parts. It turned out, when they unpack it, that it’s an axolotl, a type of salamander that lives underwater and has gills. Melvin had gotten an unusual jellyfish delivered to the house (it was a formula from a rare jellyfish that caused Melvin’s age regression). Melvin attends middle school with Ellie, and she’s excited because now she can enter the science fair with her grandfather, who is a world-renowned scientist with two PhDs (as he keeps reminding everyone). When her grandfather, Melvin, comes to stay with them in the body of a fourteen year old (that’s what happens in the first book), things get interesting. Holm is the perfect sequel to “ The Fourteenth Goldfish.” In this book, Ellie is in middle school and has a best friend, Raj.

Fourteenth goldfish goreader