What do you know about Isaac Newton? If you read this book by Kathleen Krull, you will quickly discover a lot more. This is a juvenile biography, which I'm beginning to think is where I should look for biographies, which I enjoy, but don't generally have time to read. In three sittings, I read this 115 page book, and learned a great deal about Isaac Newton, his culture, his personality and his life's work. The whole time I was reading, I found it hard to believe that he lived and worked in the seventeenth century. The author helps us understand this time period with historical references, to the Bubonic Plague, for example, as well as mentions of his contemporaries, which included Milton and Hooke, and predecessors such as Descartes and Galileo.
Krull kept the book interesting by inserting references to popular culture (referring to something as a type of Newton for Dummies, comparisons to the popular Harry Potter series, and the disclosure that coffee houses have been around a lot longer than Starbucks). The clever pen and ink drawings by Boris Kulikov helped keep my interest and kept the tone light.
Because of mention of some more mature topics, I would recommend it for it ages twelve and up.
This book was nominated for the Cybils in the Middle Grade/Young Adult Non-fiction category. Click HERE to check out other nominations and other categories, or nominate your own. Nominations close November 20.