Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
I read this book with my 10 year-old nephew, which is perhaps the only reason I kept going. I am glad I finished it, as it kind of picked up by the end. The book is a series of recordings by a kid, which at times just feels like rambling. Yes, the main character is brave, as the back cover expresses, but overall the story is not that interesting. The run-on-sentences and lack of punctuation bothered me. I’m unsure if I would recommend this book to any students. Perhaps kids that like contemporary realistic fiction. I look forward to hearing what my nephew thinks.
This story is charming.
It is a coming-of-age story.
It is a story of acceptance.
Premise: It is about 11-year-old Alex who adores outer space. And his life revolves around this adoration. He builds amateur rockets and has a dog named, Carl Sagan. Together they hit the road to compete in a rocket competition in New Mexico. Along the way he acquires colorful acquaintances, experiences and insights.
But…
It isn’t all roses in Alex’s young life. He struggles with some harsh realities. Domestic abuse. Mental illness. Familial grief.
The author does an incredible job of approaching these issues with tact and understanding, due to Alex’s innocence, and often times, it feels like only we as readers, understand what is really going on.
This story has great character development, and plot momentum. Just be aware of the triggers.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Alex is collecting recordings on his golden ipod (think Voyager and the golden record) and is building a rocket to send it into space. He's only eleven, but journeys alone to launch it at SHARF. Alex collects friends along the way and will need them to sort things out with his missing mom and absent big brother. He loses his dog, Carl Sagan, discovers a half sister and so much more on his adventure.
**Note -- this really works as an audiobook as it is a series of recordings and the ambient sounds and cast of characters really are quite effective!
**Note -- this really works as an audiobook as it is a series of recordings and the ambient sounds and cast of characters really are quite effective!
Sweet middle grade book.
A lot going on here: neglect/abuse, family, mental health... but a little over the top.
Not heavy though... very middle grade-y.... would make a good rec for a young strong reader who is beyond elementary fluff and ready for more but not super hard.
Voice (not narration) was a little too young for 11 year-old... but the blatant honesty was cool.
Narration was great! Would make a good "road trip" book with upper elementary/lower middle school kids - dramatization of story was engaging and captive audience for good covo.
Plot line was classic - easy to identify all aspects of classic story plot.
Could easily make into STEM book club (space, rockets, mapping out trip, dog digestion, recording/journaling/capturing significant info a lá Voyager's Golden Record, etc.)
A lot going on here: neglect/abuse, family, mental health... but a little over the top.
Not heavy though... very middle grade-y.... would make a good rec for a young strong reader who is beyond elementary fluff and ready for more but not super hard.
Voice (not narration) was a little too young for 11 year-old... but the blatant honesty was cool.
Narration was great! Would make a good "road trip" book with upper elementary/lower middle school kids - dramatization of story was engaging and captive audience for good covo.
Plot line was classic - easy to identify all aspects of classic story plot.
Could easily make into STEM book club (space, rockets, mapping out trip, dog digestion, recording/journaling/capturing significant info a lá Voyager's Golden Record, etc.)
I received a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I think I would have enjoyed this more as an audiobook. I might have to see if it's available through my library and give it another go. I enjoyed it, but there was something missing. Pacing, maybe? Alex is a fascinating character, as were his family members, but I never fully connected with them.
I think I would have enjoyed this more as an audiobook. I might have to see if it's available through my library and give it another go. I enjoyed it, but there was something missing. Pacing, maybe? Alex is a fascinating character, as were his family members, but I never fully connected with them.
Quirky narrator Alex is intelligent, knowledgeable, obsessive, enthusiastic, and self-sufficient. He's also naive, socially awkward, unguarded, and unworldly. Thankfully, he's incredibly endearing--to both other characters in the book and to readers.
Alex's main obsession is astronomy, and his goal is to launch an updated version of the Golden Record NASA sent into space in the 70s to introduce extraterrestrial life to planet earth and humanity. This book is composed of his recordings on his Golden iPod. He chronicles his journey to a gathering of rocket hobbyists for an attempted ascent. Many strangers help him along the way, including two who agree to take him from the festival to Las Vegas on a quest to search for his missing father. His travel takes many unexpected turns to many unexpected destinations, constantly aided by those he meets along the way. By the end of his odyssey, Alex has learned more than he ever expected about himself, his family, and his ever-growing group of friends.
Alex's optimistic spirit is infectious and makes him a wonderful storyteller of this unusual and enjoyable tale.
Alex's main obsession is astronomy, and his goal is to launch an updated version of the Golden Record NASA sent into space in the 70s to introduce extraterrestrial life to planet earth and humanity. This book is composed of his recordings on his Golden iPod. He chronicles his journey to a gathering of rocket hobbyists for an attempted ascent. Many strangers help him along the way, including two who agree to take him from the festival to Las Vegas on a quest to search for his missing father. His travel takes many unexpected turns to many unexpected destinations, constantly aided by those he meets along the way. By the end of his odyssey, Alex has learned more than he ever expected about himself, his family, and his ever-growing group of friends.
Alex's optimistic spirit is infectious and makes him a wonderful storyteller of this unusual and enjoyable tale.
I think this book will find plenty of readers, people who liked [b:Wonder|11387515|Wonder|R.J. Palacio|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309285027s/11387515.jpg|16319487] or even [b:Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer|7824997|Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer (Theodore Boone, #1)|John Grisham|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1275094812s/7824997.jpg|10872266], as well as richer & deeper novels like [b:Counting by 7s|15937108|Counting by 7s|Holly Goldberg Sloan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1396225872s/15937108.jpg|19034797], [b:Short|30201160|Short|Holly Goldberg Sloan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465965798s/30201160.jpg|50652462], and [b:Walk Two Moons|53496|Walk Two Moons|Sharon Creech|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389035862s/53496.jpg|1237212]. And this year, it might be an interesting related-read for [b:Every Soul a Star|3223761|Every Soul a Star|Wendy Mass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330221785s/3223761.jpg|3257851], and kids going out to see the eclipse even if they haven't been previously interested in astronomy & space.
The perspective and voice of the main character are unique but manage to not be grating on the nerves, although it occasionally gets close - for example, when Alex makes a verbal connection between related ideas & then uses that portmanteau instead of the actual word - like "launchurdles" for launch pads that resemble hurdles more than pads. (Maybe this just irked me because I was reading a few books simultaneously, and that kind of interruption meant I couldn't always recall which characters were present for the initial references.)
I thought the rhetorical device of the entire book being a sound-diary, with occasional ambient sound-effects was effective and well executed.
I am not sure if Alex is meant to be on the Autism Spectrum, or an intelligent child raised by a depressed single parent who neglected to teach him some basic information, or if the author just finds it amusing to have a capable kid get some things so totally wrong. I don't suppose this will matter to young readers who will get that he is intellectually or socially a bit different no matter what the label is, and might hear a message about uniqueness in this.
It bothers me that except for an off-screen best friend who is gone for the summer, Alex is the only child in the story; all of the other characters are adults - the youngest secondary character is 19, and the rest are 20s-60s. When Alex's adventure runs its course, he is belatedly rescued by loving adults who he won over by his quirky personality. His older brother does eventually notice how Alex has been coping by being extra responsible, but Alex is portrayed a little bit like a savant-pet to superficial but casually helpful adults.
It seems to me that this combination of adult-rescue-resolution & savant-pet-idolatry betrays young readers by depriving them of their agency and capacity, implying they and their peers couldn't possibly be fully cognizant of their situation, even if they are some kind of geniuses.
Of course it's unrealistic to expect an 11-year-old to cope with the kinds of dysfunction in Alex's family, and we can expect an adult to intervene. But did it have to be that the resolution happens when Alex is incapacitated in the hospital, and only informed of the necessary actions after the decisions had been made? In fact, Alex's part in the solution comes down to blurting out "Words are shadows, too!" and then pouring a glass of water for Ronnie to break his temporarily catatonic state.
The fact that Alex's depressed mother is Filipina was a fact of her (& his) heritage that is not explored in any way. Although it is mentioned that her parents (Alex's grandparents) lived in the Philippines, and (if I remember correctly) died a few years before, it seemed odd to me that there were no other members of her family who ever visited, phoned, needed to be notified, or could be asked for assistance when dramatic events unfolded. My observation of Filipino families in my community would suggest it is much more common to have many extended-family, intergenerational connectedness. Was the author throwing her Filipina identity into this as an afterthought, not bothering to develop it past a one-word descriptive out of laziness, or is this an aspect of their family that makes them atypical and unique?
Anyway, it was a captivating story. I'm sure readers who make rockets and ones who don't will both see that Alex made some important basic miscalculations but was brave to go as far as he did in running away to participate in the competitive rocket launch.
The perspective and voice of the main character are unique but manage to not be grating on the nerves, although it occasionally gets close - for example, when Alex makes a verbal connection between related ideas & then uses that portmanteau instead of the actual word - like "launchurdles" for launch pads that resemble hurdles more than pads. (Maybe this just irked me because I was reading a few books simultaneously, and that kind of interruption meant I couldn't always recall which characters were present for the initial references.)
I thought the rhetorical device of the entire book being a sound-diary, with occasional ambient sound-effects was effective and well executed.
I am not sure if Alex is meant to be on the Autism Spectrum, or an intelligent child raised by a depressed single parent who neglected to teach him some basic information, or if the author just finds it amusing to have a capable kid get some things so totally wrong. I don't suppose this will matter to young readers who will get that he is intellectually or socially a bit different no matter what the label is, and might hear a message about uniqueness in this.
It bothers me that except for an off-screen best friend who is gone for the summer, Alex is the only child in the story; all of the other characters are adults - the youngest secondary character is 19, and the rest are 20s-60s. When Alex's adventure runs its course, he is belatedly rescued by loving adults who he won over by his quirky personality. His older brother does eventually notice how Alex has been coping by being extra responsible, but Alex is portrayed a little bit like a savant-pet to superficial but casually helpful adults.
It seems to me that this combination of adult-rescue-resolution & savant-pet-idolatry betrays young readers by depriving them of their agency and capacity, implying they and their peers couldn't possibly be fully cognizant of their situation, even if they are some kind of geniuses.
Of course it's unrealistic to expect an 11-year-old to cope with the kinds of dysfunction in Alex's family, and we can expect an adult to intervene. But did it have to be that the resolution happens when Alex is incapacitated in the hospital, and only informed of the necessary actions after the decisions had been made? In fact, Alex's part in the solution comes down to blurting out "Words are shadows, too!" and then pouring a glass of water for Ronnie to break his temporarily catatonic state.
The fact that Alex's depressed mother is Filipina was a fact of her (& his) heritage that is not explored in any way. Although it is mentioned that her parents (Alex's grandparents) lived in the Philippines, and (if I remember correctly) died a few years before, it seemed odd to me that there were no other members of her family who ever visited, phoned, needed to be notified, or could be asked for assistance when dramatic events unfolded. My observation of Filipino families in my community would suggest it is much more common to have many extended-family, intergenerational connectedness. Was the author throwing her Filipina identity into this as an afterthought, not bothering to develop it past a one-word descriptive out of laziness, or is this an aspect of their family that makes them atypical and unique?
Anyway, it was a captivating story. I'm sure readers who make rockets and ones who don't will both see that Alex made some important basic miscalculations but was brave to go as far as he did in running away to participate in the competitive rocket launch.