Summing up a 600-page book in a small newspaper article isn’t easy, but if you enjoy politics, current events, and the idea of three little girls saving the world from a government conspiracy - involving many of the politicians whose names have become infamous in the last eight years - you’ll thoroughly enjoy Irving Hall’s first novel, “The Einstein Sisters Bag the Flying Monkeys.”
In the days leading up to the 2000 presidential election, three young Jewish girls are assigned with an astronomical task. They must keep George W. Bush from stealing the election, starting wars and bringing about the end of the world, all in the name of Christian fundamentalism. It may sound like a difficult job for three young girls, but with a little help from their sassy bus driver Angela, and a stage shy Jesus who returns to earth to correct the Christian misconception of his message, anything is possible.
“The Einstein Sisters Bag the Flying Monkeys” is a political satire set in Florida in the tumultuous days leading up to the 2000 presidential election. Seen through the eyes of Tina, Norma and Maxine Einstein, the great, great granddaughters of Albert Einstein, Hall’s story recounts a tale of corrupt politicians working to fool the American people in a conspiracy that could potentially cause Armageddon.
The girls, each with a brilliant young mind and ideas all her own, are put to the test when their parents abandon them in the name of Zionism, suddenly ditching their Democratic principals and embracing the Republican war machine. Tina, Norma and Maxine are abruptly shifted from the open education of home school to the more rigorous Ten Commandments model school system, where physical contact is forbidden, prayers are heard every day and their principal wants to help world leaders bring about nuclear war as a way to hurry along the rapture.
After a warm welcome for the school’s first Jewish students, the three girls think Shepherd’s Vale is a wonderful change from the traditional home school system they are used to, but it isn’t long before they realize they are surrounded by students and teachers who believe the Bible is a literal account of what is going on in the world today. With tensions already high in the middle east, the girls discover that Principal Moriah Godley wants to convince all Jewish people to return to Israel, take back the land, and help bring about the end of the world.
Competing with Godley, the girls have just a few days to make the students and teachers at Shepherds Vale see the error of their depressing belief system and embrace the true message that the kind and compassionate Jesus wants to spread. However, the girls are operating in a limited window of time and soon, they discover that it is not just the school they have to educate, but also the political and social leaders who could easily bring about the destruction of the country and the world.
With many political and world leaders making guest appearances throughout the text, Hall’s novel is packed full of information that anyone with a moderate recollection of political affairs will probably recall, and by showing these events through the eyes of adolescents, the complicated topics and events are surprisingly understandable. After eight years with the country’s current administration Hall seems to paint a humorous picture of how the country got to be in its current state, and how things could have gone a little differently. Although the book is over 600 pages in length, the story of the unique family and their Einstein Sister’s Theory of Responsibility keeps the reader interested throughout.
Hall will be signing copies of his novel from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 17 at First Edition book store in Norwich.