Can physicists write for kids? Just ask Stephen Hawking!

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is teaming with his novelist daughter Lucy Hawking to take a new generation of readers into the cosmos.

Their novel, "George’s Secret Key to the Universe," due in bookstores in October, aims to give middle-school children a time-traveling adventure to the planets, black holes and beyond through the eyes of a boy who befriends his scientist neighbor and the man’s daughter. And Cosmos, the super-computer that makes it all possible, is the target of shady people with nefarious designs.

"We are thrilled that Professor Stephen Hawking has written this one-of-a-kind book for children," Rubin Pfeffer of Simon & Schuster’s Books for Young Readers said in a statement.
Hawking’s bestselling classic, "A Brief History of Time," which explains for average folks the nature of the universe, has "inspired millions of adult minds around the globe," Pfeffer said.

This joint effort by the Hawkings "will make this complex material readily accessible to a younger audience," he added.

The book will be illustrated by Garry Parsons ("Krong!," "On a Camel to the Moon"). Collaborating on the story line for "George’s Secret Key" is Christophe Galfard, a mathematician and former research assistant to the elder Hawking.

Kristina Lindgren

(Photo: The Associated Press)