I really tried to get into this one, but it just did not work for me. Unfortunately, science fiction is not popular at my school, so I won't be purchasing it.

middle-grade book that combines science with literature. If kids are not fond of math, they may not connect to the story.

Fictional Physics

This is a very ambitious book, but it works well. The setup is that Maisie wakes up on the morning of her tenth birthday, finds that her family is gone, and then finds that her house is simply floating in an endless black void. The void starts to invade the house and parts of the house "disappear" bit by bit. The story is very reminiscent of a number of Twilight Zone episodes, most especially "Little Girl Lost".

But here's the best part. The story is not played for creeps or chills. There's suspense, but it's sort of restrained. Rather, the plot turns into one long and compelling science lesson. Maisie is a math and physics genius. Her internal monologue, (because, hey, she's alone), is a mix of remembering what she's read, reflecting on what she's learned from her science teachers, and speculating about what's happening. We get physics and cosmology, with special emphasis on black holes, dark matter, theories of alternate universes, and of course the ubiquitous Schrödinger's cat.

AMBIGUOUS GENERAL SPOILER. The story is told in alternating chapters as we switch between normal birthday Maisie and black matter invasion birthday Maisie. This actually fits with the alternate universe angle and it all leads to a socko ending.

The challenge, I guess, will turn on how much science a young reader knows and/or can absorb. The book is "sciencey" in that you get a mix of hard science and soft fiction-friendly science. The beauty of sciencey books, whether for kids or adults, is that it goes down smoothly and you can either noodle it out or just go with the flow. Here, Maisie is an engaging enough character, the pace is fast enough, and the science lectures are brisk enough that you can get what you need and go with the flow. While the writing is modern the overall project has a bit of old school golden age hard sci-fi to it, which is a rare delight nowadays.

So, this was a hoot and a much more compelling page turner than I expected. It seems like this would be great to try for a science oriented young reader.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Whether you embrace the ending or not, you’ll find the out-of-sync Maisie — a homeschooler who’s years ahead of her peers and dreams of building her own cold nuclear reactor — a delightful companion. When Maisie wakes up on the morning of her 10th birthday, everything is exactly the same as it’s always been — except she’s all alone and the world outside her house has disappeared.
(Recommended in home/school/life's science + fiction reading list)

This is an imaginative fantasy that will have kids quickly turning the pages to find out what happens next.

This was fabulously written and spellbinding. I couldn't stop till I finished. Loved the pattern the book was written in and the way it simplified difficult scientific theories. Would definitely read again!!

I like to think I'm pretty open to weirdness in fiction but even I have my limits, especially when it comes to middle grade fiction. A middle grade novel needs to be a bit more transparent, to make its point a bit more plain. And since they tend to be shorter in length there's less pace to build the world and it's complexities. And in this case, the plot jumps back and forth between the Maisie lost in the broken reality and in the original reality, making her way to the inciting incident. It can be a bit hard to follow.

I loved this book! I will be recommending it to all my middle grade readers! Thank you for this opportunity to connect books to their readers.

Edge’s book is something else (and unfortunately not in a good way). The description sounds really cool. Who can’t love a science geek story combined with a family story? I am actually wondering where that book is because The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day is not that book.

Sure, it has a lot of math and science concepts, and it has a strained sister relationship, but what it just comes across as a jumbled mess. The story unfolds through alternating chapters. One where Maisie and her family are together, and one where she is alone in the house in the vacuum of space. The alternating chapters weave two different stories together until the last few chapters, then it gets really weird.

I do not want to spoil the ending of the book, but it still has me questioning what the heck did I just read. It took me nearly six weeks to get through this book because it is just not a fun read. If I had to compare the book with other books or films, it would be an even more dysfunctional Zathura meets Dr. Who with a little The Lovely Bones thrown in just for an out of the blue twist.

I like Zathura and I love Dr. Who on their own…they do not really work well together…and neither did this book. Although I can see it appealing to some middle-grade readers.

My rating: ❤ ❤ ❤

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.

Maisie wakes up to find that everyone is gone, and the world is falling apart.

But she also wakes up to her 10th birthday, and everything is wonderful, and she is going to have a wonderful party.

So, there are two timelines going on, and Maisie has to work out what is going on, and how to fix it.

And while I agree with some of the other reviewers that using math and physics to solve the problems of this book, and to have Maise be 10 years old and female, and smart are all good points, the book never clicked for me. I never felt that involved win both versions of her life. I completely agree with her sister, who felt as though she could never match up to her sister.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Challenging to read! Highly recommend for readers who love math. Interesting characters. I was not always sure who was who.

The Infinite Lives Of Maisie Day follows the trend of showing female characters interested in science and math and I LOVE it! As a teacher of 10 year old boys and girls, I’m so thankful that authors are taking this idea and running with it. Maisie is a very bright girl with an enormous understanding of the universe and how objects are formed using atoms. She’s a great role model for all young girls that are interested in math and science but are embarrassed to admit it.

I liked that you don’t really know what’s happening as the perspectives go back and forth; this kept the book moving for me. I do think that lower level readers will struggle with this, as the scientific explanations were very complex,though needed, for the age range. I think readers over the age of 10 will have an easier time.

Thank you to Random House Childrens for an ARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.

This will be a definte purchase for the library's science fiction section. I love the strong, intelligent female main character Maisie Day. This book is brillliantly written...hopeing for a series!!

This was one of the most unusual books I've read in quite some time and it would be difficult to describe the plot in even pretty general terms without spoiling it, so I'm not going to. I will say that it's a science fiction book with one of the most amazing ideas I've come across in awhile and it manages to touch on a lot of different social issues (like dealing with a sibling who is SO different from you) as well as incorporate an amazing amount of science AND have some super tricky plot twists. It's also a fairly short book, so I think the kids will love this one.

Huge Shout out to #NetGalley for providing me and E-ARC for an honest review.

The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day by Christopher Edge was entertaining,and creative way to introduce and discuss topics of science and mathmatics as well as the dynamics of being a child genius. Some of these include educational challenges, family dynamics, and friendships. I recommend this book, an excellent middle grade book that entertains while presenting interesting concepts.

Maisie is excited to wake up on the morning of her tenth birthday, because she knows that her parents are throwing her a big party, complete with gazebo and lots of food, to make up for the fact that she has few friends. She's very bright, and taking Open University classes instead of going to the local primary school. This is okay with Maisie, but seems to irritate her fifteen year old sister, Lily, very much. In the first chapter, though, we are introduced to a very different world than Maisie's real one-- her house sits on a vast plane of nothingness, and no one is there. In alternating chapters, we see two very different stories played out. In one, Maisie's birthday proceeds as normal with house cleaning, errand running, and snacks being prepared. She even spends a little more time with Lily, whom she loves but feels estranged from. In the other chapters, we experience Maisie's discombobulation as nothing in her world seems real. When these two worlds converge, it's a story worthy of The Twilight Zone, but I don't want to spoil the surprise twists!\

Strengths: This was a page turner, and the ending was brilliant. Not one, but two twists! It reminded me of Bradbury's All Summer in a Day, since it combined every day sorts of things with a terrifying twist. My students like that very much when they read it in class, so I think I could get them interested in this.
Weaknesses: Very few tween readers want to read about super bright children; Lily could have been irritated with Maisie for any number of readers. I guess it was a good way to fit in all of the science background, though.
What I really think: This read more like a short story, so will be good for students who really like science fiction or who are being forced to read it but don't like it. It may take some explaining to get students to pick it up and stick with it, but I'm definitely purchasing a copy, since it was extremely clever, and had a fair amount of horror (but also sparkly birthday trappings).

I'm a science nerd and this middle grade book called to my always-looking -up soul. Maisie is such a great main character. I love to see a science/math loving female as our center focus as well as the dynamic of her older sister who is a typical teen who has a genius for a little sister. The story takes on this crazy plot and at first you trying to piece it together, but it puts you with Maisie and her confusion as she herself tries to rationalize what is happening. Talk about a mind binding story. Downfall is the amount of science in this to appeal to those middle school readers. If I was a astronomy/astrophysics newbie child I probably would have set the book down. As an adult and a homeschool parent it was amazing and perfect and I loved all the information, but it was too much information. Maybe if he had focused on one theory. He did do a great job in describing everything in detail for a kid to understand for the most part though. The end shattered me in an amazing, sad way. It was beautiful and I loved it.

This was such a crazy little story! When we meet Masie, she's just woken up on the morning of her 10th birthday. However, the chapters alternate between two different realities....one where she's home with her Mom, Dad and sister Lily, and another where she's home alone in a place that LOOKS like her house, but seems to be in the middle of a black abyss.

This book would be perfect for children who enjoy science and the ways of the universe. Kids who have an interest in physics and alternate realities. The ending was satisfying if not just a bit confusing...which reality is real? Is the ending real-life, or is it just another version of what 'could-have been'? I hope it was real life, because Masie deserves a wonderful birthday. Regardless, I really enjoyed this book. definitely recommend for middle grade readers.

Fresh, inventive, and surprisingly sweet. This was a genuinely fun read.

Other reviewers mentioned that there's an awful lot of science in this book, and I didn't really take them seriously... but there's a TON of science. This is obviously what the book is going for--a riff on the major breakthroughs of the last 50/100 years in physics, seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old prodigy having the WEIRDEST day. It's a great idea, and some of it is executed very well. Edge does a great job boiling down some of the more complex and theoretical concepts to a paragraph and using MG-appropriate language. In my opinion, however, there are just too many different concepts crammed into this one book. The story would have been much stronger if he had picked two or three of these ideas (say, relativity, infinity/Mobius strip, and black holes) and given them more room to breathe. The book jumped to a new major idea every couple of pages, and if I weren't already familiar with these terms, I wouldn't have had the stamina to follow them.

This book will likely be appealing to a young reader who is on the verge of jumping right into adult sci-fi but would just as soon read something with a more relatable character. I worry, however, that many will be turned off by the protagonist (why is she a next-level prodigy? wouldn't the story work just fine if she were a garden-variety genius?) and the sheer volume of mini science lessons.

I also want to mention that the story has a dark edge that I wasn't expecting. There's some emotional weight to the last quarter of the book that will probably fall on readers who aren't ready for it (in fun twisty ways and in jarring, horrifying ways).

Weird but not in a good way in a confusing way. The story feels underdeveloped and abrupt. I really wanted to like it but it just made no sense. Perhaps if the author expanded all of it, it could have been amazing. I'm not sure.