Edinger House Responds to Jennifer L. Holm’s The Fourteenth Goldfish

Edinger House was fortunate in that their teacher Ms. Edinger received a very early ARC of Jennifer Holm’s The Fourteenth Goldfish to read aloud.  Here are some of their comments and thoughts after it was finished.

The following are spoiler free.

RS wrote:

Dear Jennifer Holm,
The Fourteenth Goldfish is a very good book. I like how in the beginning Ellie doesn’t exactly like her grandfather, but in the end they are really close. If you made a sequel I think it should be about the grandfather coming back and telling Ellie and her mom about his road trip, and how Ellie is taking care (or not) of the jellyfish. It should be called The Fourteenth Jellyfish!

AP wrote:

The 14th Goldfish is an amazing book by Jennifer L. Holm. She should make a sequel The new jellyfish should be able to teleport and get teleported into the T. Melvinus and somehow get stuck inside. This is a suggestion for another book. The 14th Goldfish was an amazing book and I liked it a lot.

LR wrote:

Note to the author:  Like I said in one of my earlier blogposts I’ve really enjoyed The Fourteenth Goldfish. I think the humor in the book is my favorite aspect. My favorite part of the book is when they try to get the T. Melvinus from the lab. I also enjoy the parts when Melvin acts like he’s older than he actually is. In the end, it’s a hilarious book, with an interesting plot, thatI  enjoyed listening to.

From MH:

I love/hate the ending of The Fourteenth Goldfish. It’s so interesting when authors make cliffhangers like that without making a sequal. If there was a sequal, I’m not sure how it would work. Probably it would be about Melvin’s future in science, maybe somehow Ellie got involved. I’m not sure.

From AL:

Dear Mrs. Holm,

I loved your book, The Fourteenth Goldfish. It was an awesome book. I love all the characters, Ellie, Raj, Melissa (Mom), and even Brianna. My favorite though, is Mevin. Melvin was funny and stubborn. I loved how devoted he was to his science and discovery of the T. Mevinus. What he did at the end was fantastic. Ellie changed him in a way. I sort of felt like the ending was like the ending of a play. Maybe you should make a sequel. Maybe the jellyfish at the end that was discovered makes you grow several years older. I really liked the ending of your book and am wondering: Are you writing another book? Are you writing a sequel to the one you just wrote? I hope that if you write a sequel that it will be as good as the first one.

A loyal reader,

A.L.

From RW:

Dear Jennifer L. Holm,

This is a great book! It has a little mix of  everything and together it makes a perfect story. A little bit of science, a little bit of friendship troubles and teenage life as well. When the story starts you have Elle as a preschooler getting a goldfish then the story skips to her as a 5th grader when she comes home from school and fins out the fish is dead. I love how you start the story with the whole goldfish thing and then end with the goldfish. All together I loved this book and think I might read it again.

R.W

From JM:

So as a class, we read a super awesome book called The Fourteenth Goldfish that Jennifer L. Holm wrote. The main character is a girl named Ellie. She is a normal 14 year old. Her grandfather discovers a odd jellyfish and he calls it a T. Melvinus. The book is funny, suspenseful, and overall just awesome.

 

The following have possible spoilers.

IA wrote:

Dear Jennifer Holm,

I enjoyed The Fourteenth Goldfish very much. I liked how you had funny parts in it but it was still a serious story. Ellie’s grandfather was my favorite character. I loved how he acts like a grandfather but he looks like a kid. Especially when Ellie and her mother first meet him and we don’t know that he’s her grandfather yet. I liked the ending a lot but it surprised me. It was an awesome story.

JI wrote:

In the last part of lab, Ms. Edinger reads us a book. Yesterday, we finished one of our read aloud books. This book wasThe Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm. I am going to be telling you about the ending. Basically, there is a girl named Ellie and her grandfather is a scientist. One day, one of his experiments called the T. Melvinus (because his name is Melvin) turns on him. He was turned into a fourteen year old boy! He comes to live with Ellie and her mother, but there is a problem. He is CRAZY! He definitely does not act like a fourteen year old boy. I don’t want to give away the whole book, but in the end, Ellie becomes very close with her grandfather and discovers that she enjoys science just like Melvin. I loved The Fourteenth Goldfish and I definitely think the author should make a sequel. I think in the sequel Melvin should invent something else crazy and him and Ellie can go on all different adventures together.

AS wrote:

Dear Jennifer L Holm,                                                                                                                                                                        The Fourteenth Goldfish is a great book. It has many positive messages and is very funny. I am really hoping you will make a sequel. I love how Melvin turns into a teenager and finds a cure for old age (aka the T. Melvinus). I also like how Melvin tries to fit in and keeps acting strangely in school. I really hope that you make a sequel!

Sincerely,

A loyal Reader

From HF:

Dear: Jennifer L. Holm

I think that your book, the 14th Goldfishis very fun and I like that it is about a cool new discovery that makes you young again AKA the T. Melvinus. I think that you should make another because it ends on a giant cliff hanger.

From JB:

Dear Jennifer L. Holm,

The 14th Goldfish is not bad at all. It is a laugh for children of all ages and adults as well. When Ellie, an average girl, discovers a random 13-year-old that turns out to be her grandfather (Who’s a mad scientist), Ellie dives into an unexpected adventure full of many T. Melvinus (Jellyfish that turn your growth around) and unexpected allies. The 14th Goldfish is a wonderful laugh for all ages.

From CK:

Dear Jennifer,

I really enjoyed The Fourteenth Goldfish. I like how Melvin turned into a 13 year old by finding a cure for old people. I like when Ellie started to like science. I have few questions for you… I there going to be a sequel? Did Brianna want to be friends with Ella?

BR wrote:

The Fourteenth Goldfish has a really good plot. Ellie’s grand father is a thirteen year old boy but he still acts like he is a grand father. What made him young is the T. Melvinus. I love how Melvin is the fourteenth goldfish.I hope Jennifer L. Holm makes a second. I loved the book.

NC wrote:

The Fourteenth Goldfish is about a girl named Ellie, who’s grandfather, that is a scientist, Melvin uses a formula made from Jellyfish, that he names T Melvinus that decreases his age to 14! Ellie’s mom who is a drama teacher. Melvin is forced to go to school with Ellie and complains about everything. Melvin tries to get his formula back from his lab, but is caught by a guard. So he tells a kid named Raj to help him. Will Melvin keep failing or  will he get his formula back?

From WI:

We just finished the book in class and I really liked it.  My teacher says this paragraph has to be of the end of the book, so here we go!  I really liked it!   It’s about a girl named Ellie, Her mother (an actress), and her grandfather Melvin  (a scientist).  He invented something called the T Melvinus and that can make people younger. Ellie thinks that if he wins the Nobel that everyone would become young and then there would be nobody in charge.  Melvin thinks that won’t happen, but they get in a fight and don’t talk to each other for a while.  After Ellie’s mother does a play, Melvin tells Ellie that he flushed the T Melvinus down the toilet.  If the author, Jennifer L. Holm, was to write a sequel, I think it would be great.