Ralph Bowden

Earth Parasol Ralph Bowden

This high school-based novel features Sandra, the new art teacher, and the withdrawn and severe biology teacher, Dr. Grant. He is researching and breeding an organism that can survive and reproduce at very low temperature, pressure, and humidity. Sandra finds him intriguing, and tries to discover who he really is, and why he's teaching (badly) in high school instead of working in a more challenging field suited to his impressive résumé. She discovers that he and his reclusive Muslim 'wife, ' a talented artist, are both hiding from different threats. Investigating them, sucks Sandra into their lives and increasingly desperate attempts to escape detection. Ultimately, Dr Grant, pushed by a brilliant student to apply his research, cobbles together an experiment that could either save or possibly destroy the earth.