Earth sciences meet “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” in “Oliver's Great Big Universe: Volcanoes Are Hot!,” second in an original illustrated middle-grade fiction series that blends science with narrative from bestselling author-artist Jorge Cham, creator of PBS's “Elinor Wonders Why.”
After writing his first book, eleven-year-old Oliver is kind of a celebrity around school, no big deal. But when he gets caught in a cafeteria catastrophe, he quickly goes from being the "funny science kid" to one of the "Epic Barf Kids", the result of too much explosive cherry pie in the lunchroom. Oliver is desperate to restore his reputation, and winning the science fair sounds like the perfect way for everyone to forget about the whole barf thing. There's just one obstacle standing in his way: Ana Lía Quintero, who wins the science fair every year.
Luckily, Oliver has the help of his geoscientist aunt, even though she's a little, um, quirky (scratch that: really quirky). If Oliver has any chance of defeating his archnemesis, he'll have to learn all about volcanic burping and bacteria farts, how Earth's layers are basically like boba tea, and how school cliques and the solar system have a lot in common.
With laugh-out-loud humor and cartoon-style illustrations from bestselling writer and the creator of PHD Comics Jorge Cham, “Oliver's Great Big Universe” is a STEAM-themed, diary-style series following one kid who's taking on the whole universe, if he can survive middle school first.
