The Science of Breakable Things

By: Tae Keller

Narrated by: Jennifer Kim

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY • KIRKUS REVIEWS

The spectacular debut novel from the Newbery Award winning author of When You Trap a Tiger. This is an uplifting story about friendship, family, and the complicated science of the heart.

When Natalie’s science teacher suggests that she enter an egg drop competition, she thinks it could be the perfect solution to all of her problems. With the prize money, she can fly her botanist mother to see the miraculous Cobalt Blue Orchids--flowers with the resilience to survive against impossible odds. Her mother has been suffering from depression, and Natalie is positive that the flowers’ magic will inspire her mom to fall in love with life again.

But she can’t do it alone. Her friends step up to show her that talking about problems is like taking a plant out of a dark cupboard and exposing it to the sun. With their help, Natalie begins an unforgettable journey to discover the science of hope, love, and miracles.

Critic reviews

An NPR Great Read of the Year
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Reader Best Book of the Month
A Brightly Best Children's and YA Books of March 2018

“Natalie is an engaging narrator whose struggles at home and with her peers ring true.” —Deborah Hopkinson, award-winning author

“Inspiring, emotional, and heartwarming.” —Melissa Savage, author of Lemons

“A compassionate glimpse of mental illness accessible to a broad audience.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred

"Beautifully crafted metaphors, a theme of mending old friendships and creating new ones, and an empowering teacher to a variety of readers. . . . A winning story full of heart and action.” —Booklist, starred

“Natalie’s Korean heritage is sensitively explored, as is the central issue of depression.” —Publishers Weekly

“Natalie learns that, as with the egg, people, too, are fragile and need support and padding to break their falls. An emotional story that explores parental depression with realism and empathy.” —School Library Journal

"A sweet and hope-filled story.” —Brightly

"Holy moly!!! This book made me feel." —Colby Sharp, editor of The Creativity Project

More than blue

This important coming of age story really picks up in the last chapters, with an unexpected adventure. The voices of the tweens; their thoughts, fears, and words feels true.

Quiet, Quirky and True

Quiet, quirky and true

I loved both the ordinary news of the narrating character and the over the top characterization of her best friend. The topic of depression was handled in an honest way, although the resolution felt somewhat rushed. Its greatest strength was in the strong narrative voice and the subtle but strong use of language. I thought the performance was beautiful and did justice to the text. overall, a great example of why good children's literature is also good literature.

Great book

This book told a totally true story, and it felt awesome to just listen to a normal kid have normal problems.

MI MI MI MID

It was booty not good and 500$ wouldn’t even be enough to go to new Mexico and back

Beautiful, Brilliant & Real Life.

I was so pleasantly surprised! I came across this book, after reading “How to Trap a Tiger” - by the same author. I have battled depression for decades, but I’ve never listened to an audiobook that included depression in it’s pages. The story not only encouraged my heart, but it also gave me the rare opportunity to visit & experience how life might have been for my four children, when they were younger. Wow! I can’t Thank You enough, Tae Keller, for tackling the complicated reality of depression & for sharing NAMI’s valuable information at the end of the book. ThankYou so very much.