Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It

I read this book aloud to my eight-year-old daughter before bedtime every night, and we both loved it. It's a great story of a boy struggling to understand Big Questions in his life, ranging from scientific queries to strange family dynamics. In the midst of it he comes face to face with inter-racial struggles within his family (his dad is African-American and his mother is European-American) from a kid's perspective. My daughter and I had a great time talking about these issues, which are relevant in our lives as well.

I wish I'd had a book like this growing up! A sweet story of a bi-racial 10 year old who suddenly finds a long lost (formerly racist) relative. A great book club book for young readers! There is very little action, and only mild character development, but I think the author was more concerned with telling Brendan's story.

5/2/11 ** This was a Young Hoosier Nominee for 2010-2011; before I returned all the nominees to the library, there were a few I still wanted to read. I think this has to go onto my wishlist of books to own.<br /><br />I thoroughly enjoyed Brendan's character. His internal dialogue during his quest to understand the world around him keeps the book lighthearted, while also sometimes poignant. Brendan is a self-described scientist - asking questions, looking for answers, and struggling to against the information constraints imposed by his parents. He's also involved with Tae Kwon Do and constantly seeks to apply the precepts of that discipline to his daily life. Finally, he's biracial. Up to this point, his life has been fairly sheltered, and he hasn't had to consider how race shapes who he is. Over the course of the book he has several encounters which bring the question of race into stark relief. Most importantly, he discovers that there is a looming family secret around the question of an absent grandfather.<br /><br />This book would make a great read-aloud for the brave soul who doesn't mind a science experiment about the size of a 10-year-old boy's bladder (hold it forever and pee into a 2 liter bottle!) This would also be a compelling book for any child who isn't quite sure how he or she fits into categories defined by others.

This is a nice realistic fiction novel about a mixed race, extremely curious boy. His dad is black and his mom is white. He is somewhat in-between. Brendan is always writing questions in a notebook because he wants to become a scientist. He discovers he has a white grandfather he never knew he had when he runs into him at a rock exhibit. He and his grandfather share many "scientist" characteristics. The big question is why this grandfather has chosen to not to be a part of his life until now, and why his mother won't talk about him at all. The book has a breezy feel to it, accurately representing the day-to-day life of kids, complete with Tae Kwon Do lessons, going with his grandma to get her nails done, and the fun and guilt of flinging a little sister's dolls into a swimming pool with a handmade catapult. It tackles racism well from a kid's point of view, without easy fixes or simple answers. It concentrates on the question of <i>why</i> people--from the kids in the park to his own grandfather--express racism, without any events or descriptions which are too horrific. Best for 4th grade.

Brendan is endlessly curious, and he has taken to writing queries (and hopefully their answers) in his Book of Big Questions. However, one thing that he knows not to ask about is his mother’s father, and why he is absent from their lives; one thing that hasn’t occurred to him as a question is how he, the son of a black father and white mother, is seen. During the summer he will turn eleven, a chance encounter with his missing grandfather sends him searching for more answers than will fit in his book. His study of tae kwon do and a love of rock collecting shared with his grandfather provide metaphors for this sweet story about a boy learning about race relations and what it means to be a family.

Yes, it still holds up! <br /><br />Loved the combination of the local setting (Milton, WA is less than an hour north of where I live, depending on traffic), the geology content (SO many specific rocks and minerals named!), Tae Kwon Do, and family conflict. Frazier has a lot of great content on her website, including pictures of her family with great captions, talking about the parallels between this story and her own life.<br /><br />I read this with my 4th-6th grade book discussion group at the library, and several of the kids said it was their favorite book we read all year. Ended up taking it out to local elementary schools in May/June 2019. Sundee Frazier's one of those authors I could read exhaustively!<br /><br />Great stuff. <br />#ownvoices

My favorite kind of narrator--the intelligent, nice kid who tells it like it is and makes some mistakes (and is all the more likable for them.) Obviously this book is about having a biracial family (white and black here) and you can easily predict both the conflict and the outcome, but the strong narration and interesting cast of characters makes this easy to recommend. Also includes tenets and practice of Tae Kwon Do which are integral to the main character's motivation.

This is an upper-elementary/middle school novel. I found it on the Coretta Scott King award page. It's about a ten year old boy who's really into geology and asking lots of questions. He comes from a biracial family. He discovers a grandfather from whom he has been estranged for his entire life. Really great message!

The book Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in it is mainly about a boy named Brendan Buckley who loves to collect rocks and is also, smart and adventurous. Throughout his summer, Brendan has to figure out a mystery. Specifically about his family. He needs to figure out what had happened to his grandpa, Ed DeBose. He can’t get any information out of his mother about his grandfather and he needs to know the truth about his absents. So Brendan takes matters into his own hands to solve this family mystery. ‘She just said, ‘Gone,’ and that we’d talk about it when I was older. <br />I thought that this book was a fantastic book. Just reading the summary for this book gets me pulled in, wanting to read the book. This book was interesting to me because of mainly the plot. I’ve never read a book with a more interesting plot. When the book started to talk about Brendan trying to find Ed DeBose, it just makes me want to read more to find out what happens. And that is what I really like about this book. I could just never put the book down. In my opinion, the main character Brendan was very good. I like him because he wasn’t like any other kid in a book.He thinks of himself as a scientist. And he really likes minerals. And in the book whenever a type of mineral was mentioned, some facts about that mineral are in the book. To me, that was a very good move. ‘And there’d be no question about whether we belong together.’ This found in the book. This shows how determined Brendan is to find his grandfather and figure out why he has never met him. When reading this book, there were many moments of suspense which I also something else I really like this book. At the end of some chapters, there’d be a sentence having to do with Brendan and his grandpa. Whenever that happens I pretty much forced to read the next chapter. My favorite part in this book is when Brendan and his friend Khalfani go out to find Ed DeBose and they finally find him.<br />This book is very good and has many things that I like about it, but there are some things that could have been improved. The pace of this book is too fast. The most important part of this book Is when-when Brendan finds his grandfather. But that part happens way too early in the book. And then after that, It's mostly Brendan and Ed doing things together and random events. Also, this book seems pretty kid friendly, but in some parts, it starts to talk about black and white people and other things about certain races. If there was one thing I could change about this book is the part where Brendan finds Ed, I would want that to be closer to the end of the book. So when I’m reading the book the suspense builds up a lot so I keep reading the book so I can read that one part the book is about.<br />Overall, this an amazing book. The plot is well thought out and the characters are also really good. I would recommend this book to kids who are just becoming teenagers. Because there are some topics mentioned in this book that get a little controversial. But in the end, this a great book to read. And I highly recommend people to read it.<br />

Summary:<br />Mixed-race Brendan Buckley is fascinated by science, and he likes to find the answers to questions that he poses in his notebook. Brendan finds that life isn’t always easily explained, however, after he meets his grandfather for the first time at a rock club meeting. Brendan’s white grandfather has been estranged from Brendan’s mother since her marriage to an African American. Despite Brendan’s mixed parentage, he bonds with his grandfather through their shared interest in rock collecting, and they continue to meet secretly until Brendan’s mother finds out. It takes time and a serious accident for Brendan’s grandfather to come to his senses and reunite with his family. By frequently lightening her tone, Frazier delivers her messages without using an overly heavy hand. Brendan is a real kid with a passion for science and also a willingness to push his parents’ rules; he’s not just a placard for the author’s central message. (Booklist)<br /><br /><br />My Comments:<br />This is a very nicely written book about a biracial boy. There were many things I liked about it. First, Brendan is smart and into rock collecting. This in itself is interesting. You learn a lot about rocks. The second thing is that this book confronts racial prejudice in a simple, direct way. Brendan has never seen his “white” grandfather because his grandfather did not approve of his daughter’s interracial marriage. He flat out asks his grandfather, “Are you glad” that I’m your grandson? Brendon has a journal in which he wonders why blacks and whites don’t get along. One thing I didn’t like was grandpa teaching Brendon to drive. This comes in handy at the end of the book, but don’t know if I approve – he’s too young, (10) plus it’s illegal without a permit. In the back of the book there are Brendon’s lists of More Things About Rocks and Minerals and also Tae Kwon Do. This is a well written book, if a little stuffy. For grades 3-5<br />