Abacus is an adventure story in which 12-year-old AP, who's into science, travels through time with Kate, his 15-year-old sister. Kate thinks her geeky brother is a waste of space, but when he uses science to get them out of trouble, she starts changing her mind. Their journeys take them to medieval England, the Wild West, and to ancient Egypt, where AP's science is seen as magic. And stalking them on every trip is a hooded stranger whose attacks show he'll do anything to stop them.
Unlike the spells woven by that very famous boy wizard, AP's 'magic' is real and readers will be able to repeat the hands-on experiments themselves, using instructions at the end of the book. "I thought the science experiments that AP performed were ingenious," wrote 13-year old Justine, one of the early readers of Abacus.
Unlike the spells woven by that very famous boy wizard, AP's 'magic' is real and readers will be able to repeat the hands-on experiments themselves, using instructions at the end of the book. "I thought the science experiments that AP performed were ingenious," wrote 13-year old Justine, one of the early readers of Abacus.
Chris McGowan staged a hands-on science show at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Emily, from Burlington, bought a copy of Abacus in the ROM Shop. "I couldn't put the book down!" she wrote, and posted an experiment on Comments.
Abacus is available at many independent bookshops across Canada, and can be obtained through chapters.indigo and Amazon.
Distributed in Canada by Vanwell Publishing, and by Follet Library Resources in the USA.
Emily, from Burlington, bought a copy of Abacus in the ROM Shop. "I couldn't put the book down!" she wrote, and posted an experiment on Comments.
Abacus is available at many independent bookshops across Canada, and can be obtained through chapters.indigo and Amazon.
Distributed in Canada by Vanwell Publishing, and by Follet Library Resources in the USA.
Cover by Doron Ben-Ami
A new book by Chris McGowan
Abacus is published by Euphausia Press.
"Well-paced prose, an appealing pair of main characters, an appropriately threatening villain, a variety of secondary characters...fast-paced action, and plenty of historical detail combine in this entertaining novel for middle-grades. Highly Recommended" CM Magazine, Published by The Manitoba Library Association. See full review.
Rebecca bought a copy of Abacus and had her photo taken with the author.