The Many Worlds of Albie Bright

by Christopher Edge

[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.