The Many Worlds of Albie Bright

by Christopher Edge

Fun science meets humor and heart in this adventure about a boy who is searching for his mother . . . in a parallel universe.
 
   Stephen Albie Bright leads a happy, normal life. Well, as normal as it gets with two astrophysicist parents who named their son after their favorite scientists, Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein.
   But then Albie’s mother dies of cancer, and his world is shattered. When his father explains that she might be alive in a parallel universe, Albie knows he has to find her. So, armed with a box, a laptop, and a banana, Albie sets out to do just that.
   Of course, when you’re universe-hopping for the very first time, it’s difficult to find the one you want. As Albie searches, he discovers some pretty big surprises about himself and our universe(s), and stumbles upon the answers to life’s most challenging questions.
   A poignant, funny, and heartwarming adventure, this extraordinary novel is for anyone who has ever been curious.

Praise for The Many Worlds of Albie Bright:

“A big book with a big brain, big laughs, and a big, big heart.” —FRANK COTTRELL BOYCE, New York Times bestselling author of Millions and Cosmic
 
“Hilarious and full of heart.” —PIERS TORDAY, author of The Last Wild
 
“I’d love this book in all the worlds. Heartbreaking, heartwarming, heartstopping. Amazing.” —HOLLY SMALE, author of the award-winning Geek Girl series
 
“Heartwarming.” —The Guardian
 
“Proves the theory that novels about science can be enormous fun.” —The Times Children’s Book of the Week (UK)
 
“Moving, and exploding with scientific ideas and wonder.” —The Herald (UK)

• ISBN10: 1524713597
• ISBN13: 9781524713591
• Publish Date: 30 May 2017 (first published 14 January 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 February 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Delacorte Press
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 176
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781524713591

Reviews

[Leah]

The Many Worlds of Albie Bright is one of those books you want to read forever. Albie is such a clever, funny, warm narrator that you’re really rooting for him to find his mum in any of these alternative/parallel universes and once I started the book I didn’t want to finish it. I’m not massively clued up on science, but watching The Big Bang Theory helps massively with understanding a book like this. I mean it’s not overly complex - it’s for 9-12 year olds, but even so, you have to be paying attention. I was incredibly chuffed that when Schrodinger's Cat is brought up I knew exactly what it was, because of Sheldon Cooper.

It’s so easy to understand why Albie wants to bring his mum back - if you had the chance to travel to an alternate or parallel universe to find someone you’ve lost, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you do anything to bring them back? I know I would and Albie’s determination to see his mum again is both heartbreaking and hopeful. It’s such a compelling read and Albie has such a loud voice, he’s a quiet boy, that seems to keep to himself, but his voice is resonant and will stay with me for ages afterwards.

This is an incredible read. I loved the parallel universes Albie visited, I loved seeing the differences to Albie’s personality with each parallel universe he visited. It also tackled grief in such a real way, perfect for kids to understand and make sense of, because at that age it’s HARD to make sense of grief. Albie mentions he hasn’t cried over his mum; that he cried more over the hamster who got eaten by a cat (an evil cat named Dylan) than his mum but there’s no map of how to grieve, or how much to cry, or whether to cry and I loved that this book told kids that.

I loved The Many Worlds of Albie Bright, Albie is a fantastic character, one you want to read about forever and this book is so warm and touching. Christopher Edge has written such a wonderful novel, one I’d recommend to people who do AND don’t love science. It’s easy enough to understand and I loved this book immensely.