Wow - the brain is amazing and so is this tour of what it accomplishes for us. Our guides through all that information are two sisters, Nour and Fahama, and a couple of their neighbors, a mad scientist and his assistant. It turns out that these neighbors are brain experts since one is a disembodied brain named Dr. Cerebrum and his assistant is a zombie ("Braaains"). As Fahama tries to keep her own brain inside her skull, she stalls for time by getting Dr. Cerebrum to explain all the intricacies of the brain and everything connected to it or controlled by it.
Topics covered include the evolution of life from single-celled organisms to today's humans with their complex brains, the various types of cells that make up the brain and nervous system, the jobs of those cells, the five senses, memory, and everything else related. The discussion of sight and sound gets into the details of wavelengths and frequencies. The different types of memory are covered and there is even guidance on the best way to study for a test.
One of my favorite sections describes the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. They are illustrated as a Star Trek bridge crew with the reaction to a perceived danger and the fight or flight response embodied by the captain (complete with gold command shirt), and the "chilling system" that helps you calm down when the danger is over portrayed by an ultra-calm crewman in science officer blue. (You gotta love a classic reference like that.)
Although this topic is interesting, it is complex and full of difficult vocabulary - even with the illustrations for support. The several pages of glossary in the back are helpful, but this is not light reading. I would recommend it for middle grades and up.
128 pages 978-1626728011 Ages 9-13
Recommended by: Suzanne Costner, Librarian, Tennessee USA
See more of her recommendations at: fveslibrary.blogspot.com
********* With Science Comics, you can explore the depths of the ocean, the farthest reaches of space, and everything in between! These gorgeously illustrated graphic novels offer wildly entertaining views of their subjects.
In this volume, Fahama has been kidnapped by a mad scientist and his zombie assistant, and they are intent on stealing her brain! She'll need to learn about the brain as fast as possible in order to plan her escape!
How did the brain evolve? How do our senses work in relation to the brain? How do we remember things? What makes you, YOU? Get an inside look at the human brain, the most advanced operating system in the world . . . if you have the nerve!--from the publisher
