THE REINVENTION OF EDISON THOMAS by Jacqueline Houtman

• Publication Season/Year: Season Spring 2010
• Publisher: Front Street
• Release Date: March 2010
• ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-59078-708-3
• ISBN (paperback): TBD

Eddy Thomas can read a college physics book, but he can’t read the emotions on the faces of his classmates at Drayton Middle School. He can spend hours tinkering with an invention, but he can’t stand more than a few minutes in a noisy crowd, like the crowd at the science fair, which Eddy fails to win.

When the local school crossing guard is laid off, Eddy invents a traffic-calming device using parts he has scavenged from discarded machines. Eddy also discovers new friends, who appreciate his abilities and respect his unique view of the world. They help Eddy realize that his “friend,” Mitch is the person behind the progressively more distressing things that happen to Eddy. By trusting his real friends and accepting their help, Eddy uses his talents to help others and rethinks his purely mechanical definition of success.

Jacqueline Houtman

The Author: Jacqueline Houtman
Location: Madison, WI

Jacqueline spent way too many years learning to be a scientist (27, if you count kindergarten). The best part of all that school is that some people, especially her parents, now call her Dr. Houtman. In the rare moments she did not spend in the lab, she did theater to feed the rest of her brain. Then she came to her senses and started over as a freelance science writer and editor. She has written for physicians, scientists, and the guy down the street. She is equally comfortable writing for students in Medical School and Middle School, because the writing isn’t really that different. Med students just use bigger words. The writing she enjoys most is “sciency fiction” for kids, where science is integral to the theme and plot but, unlike science fiction, it’s all real. Jacqueline lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her engineer husband and two sciency kids.

Contact Information:

• Official web site: www.jjhoutman.com
• LiveJournal: http://jjhoutman.livejournal.com/