The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet
Reif Larsen
Fiction L329s
The son of a laconic Montana rancher and a noted, if absentminded, coleopterist, 12-year-old prodigy Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet draws diagrammatic maps (e.g., zoological, geological, topographical) as well as maps of people shucking corn or chopping wood, drainage patterns, and a city’s electricity grid usage. The Smithsonian has been accepting illustrations, schematics, charts, and maps from T. S. for some time when Mr. Jibsen calls him to say that T. S. has won the prestigious Baird Award for the popular advancement of science and is invited to D.C. to give a speech. Thus begins T. S.’s odyssey, and a surreal, mind-bending one it is, for sure. During his journey east, T. S. ruminates on many things: his curious ancestry and other family matters, the cultural impact of McDonald’s, loneliness, Chicago litter, Newton’s three laws of motion and their application to his trip, and much more. Toss into the mix a bit of quantum mechanics, Darwinism vs. creationism, and a commentary on human nature, as well as a touch of the fantastic. (Booklist)