From Theresa, Children’s Librarian / Central Library
Right from the start you need to know that this is a very
unusual tale. It has all the elements of a family story, two kids living with
their father on a farm in Montana. There is a missing mom who has moved to New
York to pursue her career as a writer but that is not what even comes close to
making this a very odd book. What happened that very stormy day in Fiona and
Fenton’s yard was, as they say, “a big game changer.” When that bolt of
lightning hit the maple tree in the front yard and left behind what looked like
a ball of lightning everything changed.
The twins managed to capture it and accidentally discovered that it was
capable of bringing dead things back to life.
Starting small they experimented
with dead bugs, small rodents, a favorite dog and ultimately their grandfather
who had been killed in a car accident. While the ball brought the dead back to
life, no one was quite the same. The maple tree suddenly started bearing apples
and the dog was not so friendly. Though to be honest does anyone really want to
be friendly with a skeleton dog? Even their grandpa Wade was a different man,
much nicer than the cranky guy they remembered. But as we find out in Evan
Kuhlman’s book, Great Ball of Light, bringing the dead back can get complicated
particularly when they stick around. Not always a dark tale of death and zombies,
this one has some very funny and warm moments.
For grades 4-7.
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