Based on a real scientific event and inspired by a beloved real human in the author's life, this is a story about science and the poetry of existence; about time and chance, genetics and gender, love and death, evolution and infinity -- concepts often too abstract for the human mind to fathom, often more accessible to the young imagination; concepts made fathomable in the concrete, finite life of one tiny, unusual creature dwelling in a pile of compost amid an English garden. Emerging from this singular life is a lyrical universal invitation not to mistake difference for defect and to welcome, across the accordion scales of time and space, diversity as the wellspring of the universe's beauty and resilience.
About the Author
Ping Zhu's illustrations are frequently seen in the New York Times and other reputable publications, but also some questionable ones. She is a graduate of ArtCenter and gave tours there as a work study job. In 2013 she won the ADC Young Guns award for being simultaneously young and talented. Though she is no longer eligible for "30 Under 30" accolades, her goal in life is to create work that will ideally age well like a fine wine. Or even an ok wine. Ping's children's book debut, "The Strange Birds of Flannery O'Connor, A Life," published in June 2020 and was selected by the New York Times as a Best Children's Book of 2020.
