by Kiki Denis

4.4 stars – 28 reviews

Lending: Enabled

Here’s the set-up:

Alma-Jane, an impossibly curious 11-year-old girl who lives in NYC and the most genetically happy person alive, is about to die due to a rare mutation. Ayrton, Alma-Jane’s older brother and a math prodigy, declares war against Death, “the destroyer of Life,” and then suddenly takes off to Oxford, UK, to examine Albert Einstein’s brain. Meanwhile, Death and his younger brother, O.M. (Obituary Man), are overworked and in desperate need of a short vacation.

At the heart of all this, a motley crew of “Minor & Major Immortals” mingle: Socrates, Alma-Jane’s dead grandfather. Dr. Harvey, a neuroscientist who conducts research on “Pure Mighties,” lab engineered mice that lack a fear gene. Sabina, Einstein’s Kunderian mistress. Alfred Butts, Sabina’s best friend and the inventor of the Scrabble board game. Pablo Neruda, who builds bridges for a living and loves kite flying. And, finally, ΩNING, a 7-year-old humanoid who loves playing the piano.
What connects all these characters is the belief that “wise-thinking” leads to a longer and happier future, and that it’s the only way to guarantee a “Life bigger than Death.”