Book Spotlight (and a Giveaway!): Finding Uncle Newton – and His Nemesis by Douglas P. Cornelius

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Finding Uncle Newton and his Nemesis by Douglas P. Cornelius, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

Title: Finding Uncle Newton and his Nemesis
Author: Douglas P. Cornelius
Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
Release Date: March 15, 2021
Genre: Middle Grade/Teen Historical Fiction (age 13-17)

She is outgoing, but orphaned. He is introverted, but a world-renowned scientist. Would moving in with Uncle Isaac Newton work? When his head was always in a book or the Bible?

Teen-aged Catherine Barton tries desperately to connect, so seeks a match for her energy in the London coffeehouses. That women were not welcome there in the late 1690’s would not stop her, and she does find promising boyfriend John.

Meanwhile, Uncle Isaac, as new Warden of the Mint, has his own challenges—nabbing counterfeiters, including the notorious, William Chaloner. He enlists Catherine to spy at the coffeehouse, and she welcomes the bond—all until boyfriend John gets implicated in a counterfeiting scheme.

Then a case of smallpox, a pandemic scourge that had killed millions just decades earlier, sends her off to dreaded isolation in the countryside.

And Uncle Isaac’s battle to nab the devious Chaloner turns into a challenging chess match. Will famous scientist Newton be embarrassed by a scofflaw from the street? Will Catherine ever find her true connection?

Based on actual historical events and people. Author is a prior recipient of Moonbeam and Illumination Awards for books for faith-driven teens.

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She slumped into a chair at the kitchen table, a plate of raw potatoes her only company. What were they doing there? Oh, that’s right—she’d set them out earlier to prepare for dinner. She stared blankly at those brown harvests of the earth. And now the eyes of a large potato were staring right back at her. Eyes—that’s what they called them, didn’t they? At least back on the farm, she did, but that was the life she was trying to escape, was it not? And now these were the kind of eyes trying to engage hers? How unfair! How dare they? She so craved a different set of eyes looking at hers with much more—eyes that would connect, locking on hers with a sparkling admiration. Yes, locking even with love—at least she could hope for that, couldn’t she?

Summoning the small bit of energy still buried within her, Catherine jumped to her feet and fumbled for a paring knife in the drawer. She grasped the biggest potato—the one so intent on staring at her—firmly in her hand, and after a few determined strokes of the knife, the potato eyes were gone. She took in a deep satisfying breath. Any trace of her former life must be removed.