YA book involving disappearing subatomic particles?

Question

I think it involved some sort of romantic subplot, but I'm not sure. I also remember it having the discussion of death, maybe of the main characters mother?

The most significant thing I remember is the main character talking about an experiment: A large amount of water was put in a vat, and it was watched to detect the disappearance of electrons/(protons/something like that). There was also a scene where the main character was sitting on a roof looking out over a town, and sees a flash that he thinks is one of the particles.

• It was set in the United States in modern-ish time.
• I read it within the last ten years.
• It was a printed book, I think the cover was colorful but maybe not.
• It was in English and not a translation (that I know of).
• I read it in the U.S.A., I think I got it from a public library.

Answer 1

I know it’s been 3 years since this was asked, but I just remembered reading this book a while ago and was looking for it too. I think the book is Smiles to Go by Jerry Spinelli.

The novel begins with a short prologue in which Will, on a visit to an eccentric neighbor, learns about protons, a microscopic particle of matter which, the neighbor tells him, is the indestructible building block of all matter. The impressionable Will wonders whether, because he is matter, he too is indestructible, narration soon revealing that, over the years since, he has come to believe exactly that. One day, however, Will learns that protons are, in fact, finite and do come to an end. His belief that part of him is indestructible is profoundly shaken, and he goes to school wondering what this news now means for his life, which up to that moment had been safe, secure, and predictable.