Down to Earth
(Sprache: Englisch)
Counting by 7s meets See You in the Cosmos in this heartwarming coming-of-age story perfect for the budding geologists and those fascinated by the mysteries of the universe.
Henry has always been fascinated by rocks. As a homeschooler, he pours...
Henry has always been fascinated by rocks. As a homeschooler, he pours...
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Counting by 7s meets See You in the Cosmos in this heartwarming coming-of-age story perfect for the budding geologists and those fascinated by the mysteries of the universe.Henry has always been fascinated by rocks. As a homeschooler, he pours through the R volume of the encyclopedia (to help him identify the rocks he finds). So, when a meteorite falls in his family's field, who better to investigate than this rock enthusiast--with his best friend, James, and his little sister, Birdie, in tow, of course.
But soon after the meteorite's arrival, the water in Henry's small Maine town starts drying up. It's not long before news spreads that the space rock and Henry's family might be to blame. Henry is determined to defend his newest discovery, but his knowledge of geology could not have prepared him for how much this stone from the sky would change his community, his family, and even himself.
Science and wonder abound in this middle-grade debut about an inquisitive boy and the massive rock that came down to Earth to reshape his life.
Lese-Probe zu „Down to Earth “
CHAPTER ONE
The pointed end of a forked stick is believed to point toward the ground when it passes over water.
The World Book Encyclopedia: Volume D
When I was five, I watched my father saw a Y-shaped twig off my great-grandfather s hundred-year-old apple tree. I waited to see if he would cut any other letters. There were branches that would make good L s and I s and a curved J just right for my best friend, James. I wondered if Dad would saw off three branches and tie them together to make the H for my name Henry.
Now I m one hundred percent older than I was then, and when Dad circles the tree his grandfather planted on Bower Hill Road, I know he s not looking for letters. He s searching for the perfect forked stick for dowsing. He doesn t dowse for buried metal or gemstones. My dad, Harlan Bower, is a water dowser and he uses his stick to find veins of water deep underground.
It doesn t have to be apple wood. It can be pear or willow. But if I ever try to dowse for real, I want my first branch to come from my great-grandfather s tree.
Having an H name like my father doesn t make me a dowser.
Being a Bower doesn t make me a dowser.
Living on Bower Hill Road, with its underground springs and good-tasting well water, doesn t make me a dowser.
My great-grandfather and grandfather could find fresh water trapped beneath hard granite rock.
Sixty-six-point-sixty-six percent of my grandfather s sons are dowsers.
My father: 33.33 percent
Uncle Lincoln: 33.33 percent
Uncle Braggy: 0 percent
My grandfather, my father, and Uncle Lincoln all discovered their water dowser talents when they were ten. I already read about dowsing in the D encyclopedia. It tells what it is, but not why some people can do it and other people can t.
My father taught me how to dig a hole with straight sides and how to
... mehr
put rubble rocks in the middle of my stone walls so they can shift with the frost.
But when I asked him how to dowse, he said it s not something you can teach, it just happens.
I asked which was more important, the stick or the person that held it, and he said both.
I asked if it was easier to dowse for water on a rainy day and he said he d never thought about that.
The apple tree has a black gash on the trunk where lightning hit it. No one saw the lightning strike, and the tree kept growing. No one teaches a tree to find water. Its taproot goes straight down into the earth, the same direction my father s dowsing stick bends when it finds water.
The day I turned ten, I went up the hill and stood under my great-grandfather s tree. It was late August and there were so many apples they pulled the branches down around me. I touched the gash where lightning marked the tree. When I looked up, all I could see were Y s. Big Y s, little Y s, straight and crooked, too many to count. I traced the straightest Y with my finger, but I didn t break it off the tree.
This perfect Y is at the very end of a branch that grows toward Nana s front porch. It will be an easy one to find again if Dad asks me to dowse for a well. Then I ll finally learn whether my great-grandfather s abilities were passed down to me or not.
If I could have chosen to be a dowser for my tenth birthday present, I would have, but I know Dad would say it s not something anyone else can give you.
CHAPTER TWO
Dowsing (water witching or water divining) is probably as old as man s need for water. It is an art certain people have which enables them to find underground sources of water.
Joseph Baum, The Beginner s Handbo
But when I asked him how to dowse, he said it s not something you can teach, it just happens.
I asked which was more important, the stick or the person that held it, and he said both.
I asked if it was easier to dowse for water on a rainy day and he said he d never thought about that.
The apple tree has a black gash on the trunk where lightning hit it. No one saw the lightning strike, and the tree kept growing. No one teaches a tree to find water. Its taproot goes straight down into the earth, the same direction my father s dowsing stick bends when it finds water.
The day I turned ten, I went up the hill and stood under my great-grandfather s tree. It was late August and there were so many apples they pulled the branches down around me. I touched the gash where lightning marked the tree. When I looked up, all I could see were Y s. Big Y s, little Y s, straight and crooked, too many to count. I traced the straightest Y with my finger, but I didn t break it off the tree.
This perfect Y is at the very end of a branch that grows toward Nana s front porch. It will be an easy one to find again if Dad asks me to dowse for a well. Then I ll finally learn whether my great-grandfather s abilities were passed down to me or not.
If I could have chosen to be a dowser for my tenth birthday present, I would have, but I know Dad would say it s not something anyone else can give you.
CHAPTER TWO
Dowsing (water witching or water divining) is probably as old as man s need for water. It is an art certain people have which enables them to find underground sources of water.
Joseph Baum, The Beginner s Handbo
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Autoren-Porträt von Betty Culley
Betty Culley's debut YA novel in verse, Three Things I Know Are True, was a Kids' Indie Next List Top Ten Pick and an ALA-YALSA Quick Pick. Her first middle-grade novel, Down to Earth, is inspired by her fascination with meteorites, voyagers from another place and time. She's worked as a pediatric nurse and lives in a small town in central Maine. You can find her online at bettyculley.com.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Betty Culley
- Altersempfehlung: 8 - 12 Jahre
- 2021, 224 Seiten, Maße: 14,7 x 21,7 cm, Gebunden, Englisch
- Verlag: Penguin Random House
- ISBN-10: 0593175735
- ISBN-13: 9780593175736
- Erscheinungsdatum: 24.09.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
"A captivating middle-grade novel. Booklist, Starred Review"This is the perfect match for middle graders starting to sort through what we do know, what we don t know yet, and what might be unknowable. The Bulletin
"Heartwarming and absorbing." -School Library Journal
"Fun and exciting from start to finish." -CentralMaine.com
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