By Cyble Young with Nell Jocelyn
What if the world’s most resilient survivor was small enough to disappear, yet bold enough to change how you see the universe?
In Eon: My Pet Tardigrade, author Simon Thorne crafts a captivating blend of science fiction and narrative nonfiction centered on a young protagonist named Liam and his microscopic companion. After discovering a particularly hardy water bear in a moss sample for a school project, Liam enters a world of high-stakes biology and unexpected friendship. The story tracks their journey from a simple desk microscope to a local science fair, and eventually, a high-tech laboratory where Eon’s unique biological properties—like cryptobiosis—become the center of attention. Thorne’s work has garnered praise for its technical accuracy, recently winning the “Science in Fiction Medal” for making complex microbiology accessible to middle-grade readers.
This book is a fantastic resource for school librarians wanting to highlight Sustainable Development Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, as it explores how studying nature leads to scientific breakthroughs. Liam’s dedication to keeping Eon safe while advocating for ethical research displays the “inquirer” and “caring” attributes of the IB Learner Profile. In a Grade 6 science or design classroom, teachers could use Liam’s experimentation process to model the scientific method or to discuss how microscopic life supports larger ecosystems. Rather than just handing students material on extremophiles, this story lets them experience the thrill of discovery through Liam’s eyes. It pushesyoung inquirers to realize that being a changemaker doesn’t always require a grand stage; sometimes, it just requires a sharp eye and the curiosity to protect the tiniest lives among us.
