Take a photo of a barcode or cover
allthatissim 's review for:
Spin the Golden Light Bulb
by Jackie Yeager
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Full Review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
I love NetGalley for giving me such gems from time to time. Spin the Golden Light Bulb is a debut novel of Jackie Yeager and what an exceptional middle-grade novel it is! I was involved in the story from the first page itself..
From the blurb, you can get that the story is set in the year 2071. This is the year when people travel by aero-car and the students are not called by their name but the number at their school. This is a story about Kia Krumpet, number 718, and her journey for chasing her dream to enter in Piedmont Inventors Prep School (PIPS) – her dream school. She studies in Crimson Elementary school where no one has ever won the Piedmont challenge. But Kia wants to win that because her grandmother Kitty was the first-ever person to win that challenge. Her grandmother was her role model from her childhood and Kia wanted to be everything like her. Kia manages to secure a place in the team to compete in the Piedmont challenge. At first, she had travel connecting with her group members but slowly they form a good friendship and move forward towards achieving their common goal.
Kia’s team is called The Crimson Five (hence the series name) because her team was the only one to have all the members from the same school. Each of them has different traits. Jax is the calm one with always a computer with him trying to research about making apps. Marianna(Mare) and Jillian are the talented girls but Marianna is the one with almost foul mood. Ander is the naughty one and later becomes Kia’s best friend. I liked how Jackie Yeager has curated the team of children, each with different hobby and passions. Though the common goal of each of them is same, they want to achieve it differently.
There were many good things for middle-grade students to learn from this book. Jackie Yeager has thrown many useful information here and there. There is a sentence when Kia is talking about pi and then she is talking about how petroleum should be saved. I think, mentioning such things were really innovative. Kia has been shown as a determined and strong girl which gives inspiration to children to be more like her and try to achieve their dreams. Children need to know that being smart and intelligent is actually a necessity in today’s world. While most of the parents force their children to be good in academics, being creative is also important.
Jackie Yeager has also told the value of friendship and teamwork through her characters. If you have good friends you can achieve any thing you thrive for and if you have a good team, no matter how bad the condition is, you will make something out of it. These are the real important traits that children these days should definitely learn. At certain moment, Kia is loosing her confidence in herself. This tells you that it is okay to have these kind of moments too. But you have to fight back and have to emerge as even stronger.
I loved the imagination that Jackie Yeager has put into the whole story. And the cherry on top is that the imagination is in fair amount. You won’t feel as if it has been over done. There were magical things like aerocars, robotic monkey, sparkling rooms to eliminate negativity, floating gameboard, hidden cameras and many more. None of these felt over the top and perfectly fit the story. I would really like to applaud the author for all this creativity and to thrive children to actually think about such amazing things. In the beginning of each chapter there are different illustrations. I really liked those illustrations. Though not all the illustrations were unique, but they beautifully captures the essence of each chapter in the book.
Final thoughts
------------------------
I am nearly 30, still I loved this middle-grade book so much. In my opinion, this is a must read for all the middle-grade children. I was amazed by the book’s inventiveness and that too in the right amount. I loved the central message that the author is trying to portray- With friendship and teamwork, you can win any day. At first, I was not ware that this is actually going to be a series. Now that I know, I can’t wait to read the sequel and to follow the Crimson Five on their next adventures.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon
Full Review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
I love NetGalley for giving me such gems from time to time. Spin the Golden Light Bulb is a debut novel of Jackie Yeager and what an exceptional middle-grade novel it is! I was involved in the story from the first page itself..
From the blurb, you can get that the story is set in the year 2071. This is the year when people travel by aero-car and the students are not called by their name but the number at their school. This is a story about Kia Krumpet, number 718, and her journey for chasing her dream to enter in Piedmont Inventors Prep School (PIPS) – her dream school. She studies in Crimson Elementary school where no one has ever won the Piedmont challenge. But Kia wants to win that because her grandmother Kitty was the first-ever person to win that challenge. Her grandmother was her role model from her childhood and Kia wanted to be everything like her. Kia manages to secure a place in the team to compete in the Piedmont challenge. At first, she had travel connecting with her group members but slowly they form a good friendship and move forward towards achieving their common goal.
Kia’s team is called The Crimson Five (hence the series name) because her team was the only one to have all the members from the same school. Each of them has different traits. Jax is the calm one with always a computer with him trying to research about making apps. Marianna(Mare) and Jillian are the talented girls but Marianna is the one with almost foul mood. Ander is the naughty one and later becomes Kia’s best friend. I liked how Jackie Yeager has curated the team of children, each with different hobby and passions. Though the common goal of each of them is same, they want to achieve it differently.
Be Curious. Be Creative. Be Collaborative. Be Colourful. Be Courageous.
There were many good things for middle-grade students to learn from this book. Jackie Yeager has thrown many useful information here and there. There is a sentence when Kia is talking about pi and then she is talking about how petroleum should be saved. I think, mentioning such things were really innovative. Kia has been shown as a determined and strong girl which gives inspiration to children to be more like her and try to achieve their dreams. Children need to know that being smart and intelligent is actually a necessity in today’s world. While most of the parents force their children to be good in academics, being creative is also important.
Jackie Yeager has also told the value of friendship and teamwork through her characters. If you have good friends you can achieve any thing you thrive for and if you have a good team, no matter how bad the condition is, you will make something out of it. These are the real important traits that children these days should definitely learn. At certain moment, Kia is loosing her confidence in herself. This tells you that it is okay to have these kind of moments too. But you have to fight back and have to emerge as even stronger.
I loved the imagination that Jackie Yeager has put into the whole story. And the cherry on top is that the imagination is in fair amount. You won’t feel as if it has been over done. There were magical things like aerocars, robotic monkey, sparkling rooms to eliminate negativity, floating gameboard, hidden cameras and many more. None of these felt over the top and perfectly fit the story. I would really like to applaud the author for all this creativity and to thrive children to actually think about such amazing things. In the beginning of each chapter there are different illustrations. I really liked those illustrations. Though not all the illustrations were unique, but they beautifully captures the essence of each chapter in the book.
Final thoughts
------------------------
I am nearly 30, still I loved this middle-grade book so much. In my opinion, this is a must read for all the middle-grade children. I was amazed by the book’s inventiveness and that too in the right amount. I loved the central message that the author is trying to portray- With friendship and teamwork, you can win any day. At first, I was not ware that this is actually going to be a series. Now that I know, I can’t wait to read the sequel and to follow the Crimson Five on their next adventures.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon