A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: From Alchemy to Avatars

by Maria Birmingham, Josh Holinaty (Illustrator)

Overview

Is it possible to live forever? People have been trying to figure out a way to escape mortality since, well, forever. This book takes readers on a fast-paced tour of several wacky and wise methods humans have used to try prolonging their lives, from ancient immortality elixirs and quests for a fountain of youth to modern-day research into cryogenics and robotics.

Touching on folklore from around the world, famed literary immortals, and studies of animals that seem unaffected by aging, the book delves into topics as diverse as genetics, religious rituals surrounding the afterlife, and research into basic lifestyle choices, like eating blueberries or getting a pet, that could help you live longer. Each page is a playful mix of fascinating facts that open up cross-curricular topics in history, science, and social studies to explore.

Illustrations of historical figures, imaginary places, and scientific specimens add a touch of whimsy and bring out the beauty, sincerity, and playful side of human curiosity.

Informational text features: table of contents, introduction, chapters, sidebars, fact boxes, headers and labels, map, index, and sources

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771470452
Publisher:	Owlkids Books
Publication date:	10/13/2015
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	1100L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Maria Birmingham is a long-standing contributor to OWL and chickaDEE magazines, writing numerous features and recurring sections for both. She also served as the managing editor of OWL. She has published two previous titles with Owlkids Books: Weird Zone: Sports and Tastes Like Music. She lives in Brampton, Ontario.

Josh Holinaty is an illustrator whose works include public art commissions and book, magazine, and newspaper illustrations. He also teaches illustration at Guru Digital Arts College. He has illustrated one previous title with Owlkids Books: It's Catching. Originally from Alberta, he now lives in Toronto.

Editorial Reviews

08/17/2015
For readers with dreams of evading death, Birmingham offers five possible tactics that would-be immortals have used from prehistory to the present (not that any of them have been successful, exactly). From the search for miracle elixirs to examples of long-lived human and animals, Birmingham offers a wide-ranging look at the myths (vampires, the isle of Tír na nÓg), scientific efforts (cryogenics, the uploading of human brains to robot bodies), and religious traditions surrounding the extension of life, as well as what might await in the afterlife. Holinaty’s cartoon vignettes dot the pages of each color-coded chapter, their playfulness helping underscore the fact that, no matter how much lycopene you ingest or what bargains you make with Zeus, immortality is, for now, still out of reach. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"A great introduction to a subject not often covered in children's nonfiction...seamlessly blends history, mythology, science and technology."
—Canadian Children's Book News

"Birmingham takes readers on a lively tour of the many ways people have sought to cheat death throughout history...a visually striking, thought-provoking look at a topic that will encourage further investigation."
—School Library Journal

"This fun, enjoyable read manages to inform and entertain—a combination perhaps as rare as the fountain of youth—and will be a welcome addition to both school and public libraries."
—Booklist

"A tasty distillation of history, religion, chemistry, biology, technology, and pop culture."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Birmingham offers a wide-ranging look at the myths...scientific efforts...and religious traditions surrounding the extension of life."
—Publisher's Weekly

"A must-read for anyone interested in science, magic, and everything in between."
—Foreword Reviews, a Best YA Title of Winter 2016

"Humorous but informative...with fun facts and thought-provoking info...that is sure to pique the interest of even the least morbid kids."
—Quill & Quire

"A Beginner's Guide to Immortality has it all. Highly recommended."
—Canadian Review of Materials

"A cornucopia of wise and wacky ways people have tried to achieve immortality, Birmingham's witty book will appeal to even the most reluctant readers...this handy reference tool offers an endless bounty of possible cross-curricular discussion ideas and topics for teachers, including science, social studies, and history."
National Reading Campaign

"Whimsical...quirky...humorous and engaging. A must-read for anyone interested in science, magic, and everything in between."
—Foreword Reviews

"A highly recommended title that will fascinate readers from 9 to 90."
—Resource Links

"Light-hearted and, often, tongue-in-cheek...breezy enough in its style to be an enjoyable casual read, this beginner's guide also asks interesting questions. Recommended."
—School Library Connection

From the Publisher

09/01/2015
Gr 4–7—The quest for everlasting life has long fascinated humankind, and in this entertaining introduction to immortality, Birmingham takes readers on a lively tour of the many ways people have sought to cheat death throughout history. The author infuses the narrative with examples from world mythology and folklore, popular culture, and science, from The Epic of Gilgamesh to modern-day avatars programmed with a person's memories, feelings, and thoughts. Exploring topics such as the legendary philosopher's stone, cryonics, telomeres in our DNA, and cloning, the book effectively maintains a matter-of-fact tone throughout while simultaneously mixing in eye-opening and engaging facts. Colorful illustrations add an air of quirkiness and complement the text. The focus is squarely upon the how of immortality, with no discussion about humankind's reason for seeking out eternal life. VERDICT A visually striking, thought-provoking look at a topic that will encourage further investigation.—Audrey Sumser, Kent State University at Tuscarawas, New Philadelphia, OH

School Library Journal

2015-07-15
A matter-of-fact chronicle of the long search for the elixir of life, the philosopher's stone, the fountain of youth, and other means of exceeding our allotted spans. As Birmingham (Tastes Like Music: 17 Quirks of the Brain and Body, 2014) observes, the search has occupied us at least since Gilgamesh found and then lost a certain magical plant. Moving from medieval alchemical concoctions to current research involving telomeres and the FoxO gene, she intersperses myths and folk beliefs, cautionary stories such as the legend of Tithonus (who was granted immortality but not eternal youth), and side looks at Dracula, Harry Potter, Tuck Everlasting, and other modern exemplars. She also catalogs places both real (the so-called Blue Zones) and fictional where death is delayed or banished, looks at promising new longevity techniques from cryogenics to uploading our minds into cloned or artificial bodies, and then closes with an array of afterlifes promised by major world religions. The big question—why we would want to live forever—she saves for a reflective finale. Holinaty's fanciful monochrome illustrations add breezy notes, if not much information, to the narrative's finely balanced mix of fact and generality. A tasty distillation of history, religion, chemistry, biology, technology, and pop culture. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews