Mama Gone Geek: Calling on My Inner Science Nerd to Help Navigate the Ups and Downs of Parenthood

An Emmy Award–winning writer for Bill Nye the Science Guy, Brunelle interweaves stories of raising her two young sons and suggestions for uncomplicated family science projects in this quirky and often hilarious compendium. The book takes readers on an exuberant journey that combines maternal highs and lows with the joys of being a born science “nerd.” The author begins by describing her move with her sons and husband from Seattle to Bainbridge Island where she fruitlessly tried to combat house pests while still remaining “green.” Calamities like lice (giving rise to visions of “medieval paupers”), power outages, and broken arms, and childhood rites like campouts and baseball games, are handled with equal deftness by this science-cum-humor writer, who can convey the awe and wonder of motherhood without sounding corny. Each essay includes a teachable moment (or two) and an activity, such as making a straw oboe, conjuring up homemade “quicksand,” or constructing a lemon-battery-powered clock. A closing piece about jumping on the trampoline with her kids summarizes the author’s bittersweet feelings about watching her boys grow up. Brunelle recreates the magic of everyday family life with a scientist’s keen eye for detail and a parent’s faultless ear for mother-son dialogue. Agent: Joy Tutela, David Black Agency. (Oct.)