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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
I don't often give middle grade fiction novels 5 stars...but when I start a book and can't put it down, thus staying up most of the night to finish, it earns some kudos.
Eleven year old Alex is on his way to a convention for rocket enthusiasts. He's got the carpool, the cash, the rocket, the dog, and the tent. He does not have an adult to go with him. Through fate, he get's around that detail to make the convention. He knows his rocket will shoot into space, and with it, take his Golden iPod with record of thoughts and sounds Alex has been collecting. Just like his idol, Carl Sagon, sent the golden record.
The rocket does not go into space. After a bit of depression, Alex comes up with a new plan. What entails is a buddy road trip, Alex and other adults, though Alex may be the most mature of them all.
Recommend highly for grades 5 and up.
Eleven year old Alex is on his way to a convention for rocket enthusiasts. He's got the carpool, the cash, the rocket, the dog, and the tent. He does not have an adult to go with him. Through fate, he get's around that detail to make the convention. He knows his rocket will shoot into space, and with it, take his Golden iPod with record of thoughts and sounds Alex has been collecting. Just like his idol, Carl Sagon, sent the golden record.
The rocket does not go into space. After a bit of depression, Alex comes up with a new plan. What entails is a buddy road trip, Alex and other adults, though Alex may be the most mature of them all.
Recommend highly for grades 5 and up.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
this book is everything i needed to read. i needed a break from all the dark media i've been consuming, and honestly, even if i were reading anything else, this book is like a breath of fresh air. since this is marketed towards middle grade, i was expecting an easy read with little to no nuance, but there was and that was quite a shock to me at first. the pacing and use of dialogue was the highlight of reading this book. with this book, you get to feel like a kid. and even if you are seeing most of the book from the lens and explanation of a child, you still get to see the many facets that surround alex's life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book,
This was such a great middle grade book! I loved the main character Alex, and I loved the adventures he went on. It was really sweet and funny, and it was written in a really unique way- it was like a transcript of audio recordings and I think overall it was a good idea to have the book written like that and it made sense for the story. I also liked the side characters and the things you find out along the way. I think this would be a great book for kids- especially ones interested in science and space, but it's also enjoyable for adults that just like good stories about family, friendship, rockets and dogs.
This was such a great middle grade book! I loved the main character Alex, and I loved the adventures he went on. It was really sweet and funny, and it was written in a really unique way- it was like a transcript of audio recordings and I think overall it was a good idea to have the book written like that and it made sense for the story. I also liked the side characters and the things you find out along the way. I think this would be a great book for kids- especially ones interested in science and space, but it's also enjoyable for adults that just like good stories about family, friendship, rockets and dogs.
Listened on audiobook, Super cute narration. However:::: Many things bugged me about this book:
-the normalization of “sleeping over with Girlfriend”
-the normalization of a child getting in a car with two men he has never met
-the normalization of a child going into a tent with two men he just met
-the normalization of talking to strangers and going places with them alone
-the normalization of a young child leaving home alone on an adventure with no adult approval or supervision
-the normalization of underage drinking
-the normalization of dishonesty to attain ones goals
-the normalization of boys surfing the web unsupervised and being a part of adult chat rooms
Just so many aspects of this book that left me hoping that not many children read it. The ideas it presents as normal and “ok” are so dangerous. Not impressed.
-the normalization of “sleeping over with Girlfriend”
-the normalization of a child getting in a car with two men he has never met
-the normalization of a child going into a tent with two men he just met
-the normalization of talking to strangers and going places with them alone
-the normalization of a young child leaving home alone on an adventure with no adult approval or supervision
-the normalization of underage drinking
-the normalization of dishonesty to attain ones goals
-the normalization of boys surfing the web unsupervised and being a part of adult chat rooms
Just so many aspects of this book that left me hoping that not many children read it. The ideas it presents as normal and “ok” are so dangerous. Not impressed.
Alex is a 10-11 year-old guy who dreams of sending his golden iPod into space just like his hero Carl Sagan did. So he builds a rocket which he calls Voyager 3 and goes to a whole community of people on the internet launching their own rockets called the ‘Rocketforum’. Alex’s dad had died a few years ago, and he stays at home with his mom, who seems a little mentally ill. His 20-or-something brother Ronnie lives in LA away from them, working. Alex travels to this place where the rockets are supposed to be launched and he meets a lot of people and makes new friends. And yeah, he’s 10, and yeah, he travels alone in a train to this place miles away from his home. But his character is written beautifully. He goes on a whole road trip and discovers that he has an unknown sister, and goes to a lot of places and questions a lot of stuff. There is SO much innocence in this book and the profile of a kid like Alex has been written flawlessly. Apart from the fact that there were no “ ” these for dialogues, I absolutely love the book. It’s about experience, it’s about defining the words we use in everyday life. And it shows us how innocent we all were before life took over. It’s a very sweet read. Four stars.
I listened to the audiobook for this and I LOVED it, and I don't usually like audiobooks. The guy who did the voice for Alex was so good, and I also liked that the other characters were voiced by different people. It really seemed like you were listening to Alex's actual golden iPod recordings. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 4.6/5 (A)
I just wanna start off by saying how cute Alex Petroski's character is! I've never read a more compelling kid since Auggie from Wonder. He loves astronomy and rockets. He's pretty smart yet oblivious. He embodies sweet childhood innocence and I wish I can have a friend like him.
The story is about 11-year-old Filipino-American Alex Petroski, his dog, Carl Sagan—named for his hero—and his adventures along the southwestern United States. All he wanted to do is launch a rocket that contains his Golden iPod filled with a series of audio recordings and fly it through other space. He wanted to show other life-forms what life on Earth—his Earth—is really like. Journeying through Colorado, New Mexico, to Las Vegas to Los Angeles, he meets remarkable people that led him to uncover the secrets of his life: a long dead father, a troubled mom, and a mostly not-around brother.
The book dives deep in the theme of Truthfulness and how it is unhealthy to hide secrets, especially from a young boy, even if they really can’t understand them yet. Alex’s dog is named after a real-life astronomer, Carl Sagan, in which Alex sees him as a hero. Sagan once said that, “the truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true.” This solidifies Alex’s view on truthfulness and honesty even when it was hard to accept or understand and that it can never be substituted with ‘happy lies.’ According to Alex, “knowledge is better than ignorance, and it’s better to find out and embrace the truth even if that truth might not feel good.”
This is Jack Cheng’s first book for young readers and it deserves a high place in the cosmos for its moving main character and a wild and funny plot that inspires us to have hope, love, and understanding.
I just wanna start off by saying how cute Alex Petroski's character is! I've never read a more compelling kid since Auggie from Wonder. He loves astronomy and rockets. He's pretty smart yet oblivious. He embodies sweet childhood innocence and I wish I can have a friend like him.
The story is about 11-year-old Filipino-American Alex Petroski, his dog, Carl Sagan—named for his hero—and his adventures along the southwestern United States. All he wanted to do is launch a rocket that contains his Golden iPod filled with a series of audio recordings and fly it through other space. He wanted to show other life-forms what life on Earth—his Earth—is really like. Journeying through Colorado, New Mexico, to Las Vegas to Los Angeles, he meets remarkable people that led him to uncover the secrets of his life: a long dead father, a troubled mom, and a mostly not-around brother.
The book dives deep in the theme of Truthfulness and how it is unhealthy to hide secrets, especially from a young boy, even if they really can’t understand them yet. Alex’s dog is named after a real-life astronomer, Carl Sagan, in which Alex sees him as a hero. Sagan once said that, “the truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true.” This solidifies Alex’s view on truthfulness and honesty even when it was hard to accept or understand and that it can never be substituted with ‘happy lies.’ According to Alex, “knowledge is better than ignorance, and it’s better to find out and embrace the truth even if that truth might not feel good.”
This is Jack Cheng’s first book for young readers and it deserves a high place in the cosmos for its moving main character and a wild and funny plot that inspires us to have hope, love, and understanding.
The story of an extremely lucky 11-years-old boy, who talks to some guys on an adult online chat, decides to travel alone to a convention to meet them, befriends some other guys there and then leaves with them to Las Vegas. In real life, he would be dead before the first third of the book.
Alex is one die-hard fan of space and subsequently of Carl Sagan. Such a big fan, he actually named his dog Carl Sagan. The book is written as an iPod recording Alex wants to send into space with his first rocket, with the purpose to teach the extraterrestrials more about the human race – similar to the Golden Record, included aboard both Voyager spacecrafts, launched in the 70s.
The beginning felt pretty much in the same style as “The Curios Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”, but afterwards it evolved much better than the latter. Alex is a much more likable character and the overall story has a comforting effect. Considering the fact that I gave 2 stars to the “Curios Case...”, definitely I should give more to “See you in the Cosmos”. *** stars.
Alex is one die-hard fan of space and subsequently of Carl Sagan. Such a big fan, he actually named his dog Carl Sagan. The book is written as an iPod recording Alex wants to send into space with his first rocket, with the purpose to teach the extraterrestrials more about the human race – similar to the Golden Record, included aboard both Voyager spacecrafts, launched in the 70s.
The beginning felt pretty much in the same style as “The Curios Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”, but afterwards it evolved much better than the latter. Alex is a much more likable character and the overall story has a comforting effect. Considering the fact that I gave 2 stars to the “Curios Case...”, definitely I should give more to “See you in the Cosmos”. *** stars.
Okay, this book was super charming and the audio edition is very well done. Definitely recommend!
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes