The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day

May 27, 2019
“Some people say that everything began with a Big Bang, but for me, that’s the last thing I really remember,” begins this layered and sometimes dizzying story of sisterhood, physics, and fringe science. It’s Maisie Day’s 10th birthday, and she hopes to receive a nuclear reactor from her parents so that she can unravel the science of cold fusion. Instead, though, a rift with her 15-year old sister, Lily, lands her in a baffling conundrum: Maisie is caught in a seemingly infinite loop, reliving her birthday again and again while a Vantablack darkness encroaches. Academically gifted with an interest in “how the universe works,” Maisie guides readers through the mystery of her endlessly repeating birthday, defining scientific theories and jargon in simple, relatable terms. In demonstrating entropy, for example, Maisie shatters eggs, illustrating that, while the same atoms exist, they are now disordered and chaotic. As in previous novels, Edge (The Jamie Drake Equation) skillfully weds advanced scientific theories with buried emotional trauma, this time crafting a moving story about sibling relationships, trust, and forgiveness. Ages 10–up.