Facing a summer without his best friend, Matthew decided on a summer project using the speed of light and the theory of relativity to try and prove his own theory about the dilation of time. Using the library resources on a daily basis to prove his theory, he met a girl that turns out didn’t real... more

Facing a summer without his best friend, Matthew decided on a summer project using the speed of light and the theory of relativity to try and prove his own theory about the dilation of time. Using the library resources on a daily basis to prove his theory, he met a girl that turns out didn’t really have anyplace to live or anyone to watch over her for a while. Sharing lunch with Dinah everyday, he would bring sandwiches and she would contribute anything she could find, even if it came from the supermarket dumpster. Wanting to help, he found a way to get her a warm, dry and safe place to stay - in his church basement. Discovering a friend who had a different back ground, a different family dynamic and outlook on life was one way for them both to grow and learn about thing from astrophysics to poetry, from each other and from themselves. ..... The tenderness and the acceptance that these kids show each other is very touching. If only there were more people that could be so different from each other and yet still help one another learn from those differences. This is a quick and easy story to read, it did have a lot of sitting around a tree talking, some religious overtones (Matthews father is a preacher), a little science and even some music. These kids are gentle and kind, they show warmth and encouragement and all of this in a young, pre-teen boy who is finding his own heart full of friendship and good will toward someone he has only just met. Sad is some parts but over all an uplifting story that could be read by any age group. The science gets a bit technical in places and then the end is abrupt, leaving just a small piece of me wondering if that was it.