About the Book

Title: Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand | Author: R.S. Mellette | Publication Date: December 8, 2014 | Publisher: Elephant’s Bookshelf Press | Pages: 284 | Recommended Ages: 10+

Book Description: “E = mc2 is no longer the most powerful force in the universe. Your wand is.” 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.

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My Review

Who says science is not magical? This is pretty much the premise in a nutshell of Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand. Suzy and Billy, two twelve-year-old science prodigies, encounter the world of bullies as freshmen in High School. Billy, in part pushed by his desire to be “cool” and “in” with the pretty girls in school, and in part as a deep desire to make his schizophrenic mother better, pushes the envelope of science and leaps into making the impossibility of Quantum Physics a reality that defies times and space.

Told from the point of view of Suzy, Billy’s best friend since they were born, and her female equal in brains and social awkwardness, this book is very visual and it reads like a fantasy thriller. The first half of it is a little thick with science explanations, and the only reason I would not recommend this book to a younger crowd — 10, and actually a bit older, is definitely the niche for this book. As much as my 7-year-old thriller loving bookworm would enjoy the story, I think she would have a hard time grasping the basics to enter the world of what is going on and enjoy it.

The book begins with Suzy at the police station, telling the story as a flashback — which is a clever way to lay out the exposition and background of the story… but a little weird as I thought the book was going to resolve towards the end explaining why Suzy was in detention and Billy had gone missing. Apart from that initial weirdness with the structure of the story, the rest of the book is told in a linear way. Once I got into the story and understood where it was going, I couldn’t stop reading. It is a page-turner and goes deep into the characters of both kids to make you feel and remember those bully years of teenage-hood.

Summarizing, Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand is a perfect coming of age book for late tweens and early teens about the magic of science and conquering your fears to grow. I’m very much looking forward to reading Billy and Suzy’s next adventure.

The Buzz About the Book

“What a great read! I must have been under a magic spell reading it – read it in one day, which I only do if the book is very good. I encourage all readers to pick up this book and spend an afternoon with the quantum-physics-knowing, often-bullied, lovable Billy Bobble and his intellectual equal, best friend Suzy Quinofski.” ~ Books4theSoul, Amazon

“My inner geek smiled a lot while reading this book. Theories and ideas I had never heard of flew over my head… but at every mention, I grinned. I LOVE a book that tackles tough subjects, embellishes them and embraces it. These characters aren’t afraid of challenges, facing a bunch both personally and scientifically.” ~ Kirstin, Amazon

“I think that this is a great book and I think that kids will like it a lot, because I did!” ~ Alec S., Amazon

About the Author: R.S. Mellette

Billy Bobble Makes A Magic Wand, is R.S. Mellette’s debut novel from Elephant Bookshelf’s Press. Prior to Billy Bobble, Mellette had Sci-Fi short stories published in the anthologies: The Fall: Tales from the Apocalypse, Spring Fevers and Summer’s Edge. Mellette is an Associate Director of Dances With Films (one of MovieMaker Magazine’s top 25 coolest film festivals in the world). He wrote and directed the multi-festival winner, Jacks or Better. He also wrote the first web-to-television intellectual property, “The Xena Scrolls,” for Universal Studio’s Xena: Warrior Princess. On Blue Crush and Nutty Professor II he served as script coordinator. He’s acted in Looney Tunes: Back In Action, Star Trek: Enterprise, Days of Our Lives, Too Young The Hero, and countless stage productions across the US.

Mellette is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of American and a regional board member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

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