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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
I have read other books by this author, but this one really seemed to resonate. It is written for tweens, but I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys character driven stories, especially those about family dynamics.
This book focuses on three siblings in middle school who are all facing different problems. Both the kids and their issues felt very real. Erin Entrada Kelly has created really complex characters and captured the confusion and chaos of adolescence.
Also, I did not really know anything about The Challenger before I read this, so I learned about space exploration along the way.
This book focuses on three siblings in middle school who are all facing different problems. Both the kids and their issues felt very real. Erin Entrada Kelly has created really complex characters and captured the confusion and chaos of adolescence.
Also, I did not really know anything about The Challenger before I read this, so I learned about space exploration along the way.
In We Dream of Space Erin Entrada Kelly sets the story of three siblings against the historical Challenger Shuttle disaster. Cash, Fitch, and Bird Thomas are all in 7th grade: Cash for the second time around, and Fitch and Bird, twins, in their first attempt at grade 7. It is January 1986, and all three of the Thomas children have Ms. Salonga for science. Ms. Salonga is a space enthusiast and even applied to be NASA's first teacher in space. Though she didn't win that opportunity, she is doing all she can to enthuse her students about the wonders of space and space travel, and they are all anticipating the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger with the first civilian on board - teacher Christa McAuliffe- at the end of the month.
While a mission to space is Bird's dream, her brothers are less enthused and more caught up in their own issues. Cash is embarrassed to be repeating 7th grade with his younger siblings and is struggling yet again in school. Fitch is struggling with issues of anger and feeling that he just doesn't fit in. It doesn't help any of the children that their parents seem to fight constantly, and no one feels really sure from day to day what might be coming next.
Kelly does an amazing job, as always, in constructing characters who the reader can relate to and feel empathy for. Weaving it into the story of a day that none of those who experienced it can ever forget, Kelly makes the excitement and despair of the Challenger shuttle mission real for a whole new audience of readers.
This is a very beautiful book, once again proving books for kids are the best books. Space is awesome and scary
Loved this historical fiction account of the Challenger space launch in 1986. Like many of Erin Entrada Kelly’s other books, the chapters alternate between narrators — in this case, three siblings who are each going through their own self-awakening. Loved this one for ages 10 and up.
I wasn't born when the Challenger disaster occurred in 1986, but I've of course heard the story. We Dream of Space focuses on the three sibling main characters, Fitch, Bird, and Cash, in the month leading up to and the days following the disaster. Each sibling gets their own POV in the story, and they had distinct voices and felt very real. I really enjoyed Erin Entrada Kelly's writing.
This is such a well done, character driven story that just keeps you reading. Set in 1986 leading up to the launch of the Challenger you have three middle school siblings just trying to figure things out while avoiding their dysfunctional family as much as possible by staying in their own bubbles. You get to witness the buildup and excitement for the launch in the lessons that Ms. Salonga presented to her classes. The story fills you with the hope that the US had during this time, and though you know how it ends (if you learned about the Challenger disaster before reading this) your heart still breaks along with Bird’s.
Erin Entrada Kelly’s writing is flawless and I continue to be a big fan of her books.
Erin Entrada Kelly’s writing is flawless and I continue to be a big fan of her books.
This hit me hard as a 7th grade teacher. My husband’s 2nd and 3rd grade teacher was McCauliffe’s backup, Barbara Morgan, and he was in her class for the launch after Challenger. He has regularly talked about how influential Morgan was to him, and Ms. Salonga’s background and interest in tying the launch to her class made me think of her.
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
I wasn't really interested at first but the more you get into it the more interesting it become!
Emotional and turbulent, Kelly has done it again with her characters that are very much alive, in a time of uncertainty when dreaming of space gave us hope. At turns funny and tragic, this family-focused middle-grade novel might appeal more to adults than kids, but if a young reader sees themselves in one of these very different characters it might mean the world to them.
I think I'm done with the Challenger disaster for a while.
I think I'm done with the Challenger disaster for a while.
"The only way to find the answer is if we go out there. It might be scary. We might not find anything... but it's worth it. We can't just settle for what's easy, or we would never discover anything."
Starting the year with one of my anticipated releases last year is never a wrong move since We Dream of Space 'pmuls-ed' my holiday slump and put my 2021 reading journey in a great launch.
This middle grade novel is In Cosmic Dreams' book of the month and I scheduled to read the book in line with my good friend, Kat's, book club so I can relate with their discussion. Also, if you've been with me since 2018, it is not a breaking news to announce that Erin Entrada Kelly is one of my auto-buy and favorite authors so WDOS is definitely a priority for me.
As previously mentioned, this book is a middle grade novel that revolves on three characters namely Cash, Fitch, and Bird - all siblings in Park, Delaware and children of Tam and Mike Nelson Thomas. The book is set in early 1986 in line with the launch of space shuttle Challenger.
I'll be frank and say that this book saddened me. I dove into this without knowing anything aside from the Challenger influence but this book managed to play with my emotions in all of its 390-pages goodness.
I'm not a big middle grade reader but I am up-to-date with Erin's book and this one hits different as the storyline touched on so many family issues and how children sees the world in relation to how they were treated inside their house.
Bird is an auto-favorite. I feel connected with Bernadette Nelson Thomas as I also used to dream of being an astronaut when I was a kid and how studious Bird is in this book. I see myself in Bird with the way she always act a step ahead of her family in such a tender age and how proactive she is when it comes to her parents and siblings. Bird's dedication is also commendable and I love how unorthodox her character when it comes to societal standards. You may be wondering why I'm saying these things to a middle grade character but trust me, this is Bird and I love her.
Fitch is the character that I want to hug. I understand how the world works as a kid and I see Henry Nelson Thomas as this kid who wants to keep everything in its angle and is afraid of unexpected turns that's why most of the time, he had a hard time adjusting to changes. 1986 is not a progressive year in terms of mental health discussion and Fitch's character is accurately developed on how society viewed people who suffer from mental health issues.
Cash is on a different spectrum though. As the eldest Nelson Thomas who's having a hard time in terms of academics, his character is enveloped with insecurities. From being cut-off from the basketball team to his friends moving out of middle school to attend high school after this year, Cash is all set to start fresh in this new year and make a new perspective for his new life to start rolling.
The family dynamics in this book is what set it aside from other MG novels I read in the past as the story presented how a verbally-chaotic family runs. From the way the parents argues about things up to the kids' behavioral adjustment, the book captured the reality about semi-dysfunctional families.
I can say that I grew up in a similar background since I always hear and see my parents argue even in the smallest things, but most of the time it's about who provides food for the family, that's why the family part in this book resonated with me deeply. The way Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Thomas wasn't able to reach out properly with their kids is just heartbreaking but what's new? Families really are a complicated galaxy.
On a different note, the Challenger subplot is what breaks me. I have very little knowledge about this piece of history but after reading this book and putting myself in Bird's eye view, the astronaut-wannabe in me somehow cried with what happened in that much-awaited event.
The last chapters made me wish I can hug the Nelson Thomas kids and have a heart-to-heart discussion because kids deserve a little talk, too.
RATING: 4stars
Starting the year with one of my anticipated releases last year is never a wrong move since We Dream of Space 'pmuls-ed' my holiday slump and put my 2021 reading journey in a great launch.
This middle grade novel is In Cosmic Dreams' book of the month and I scheduled to read the book in line with my good friend, Kat's, book club so I can relate with their discussion. Also, if you've been with me since 2018, it is not a breaking news to announce that Erin Entrada Kelly is one of my auto-buy and favorite authors so WDOS is definitely a priority for me.
As previously mentioned, this book is a middle grade novel that revolves on three characters namely Cash, Fitch, and Bird - all siblings in Park, Delaware and children of Tam and Mike Nelson Thomas. The book is set in early 1986 in line with the launch of space shuttle Challenger.
I'll be frank and say that this book saddened me. I dove into this without knowing anything aside from the Challenger influence but this book managed to play with my emotions in all of its 390-pages goodness.
I'm not a big middle grade reader but I am up-to-date with Erin's book and this one hits different as the storyline touched on so many family issues and how children sees the world in relation to how they were treated inside their house.
Bird is an auto-favorite. I feel connected with Bernadette Nelson Thomas as I also used to dream of being an astronaut when I was a kid and how studious Bird is in this book. I see myself in Bird with the way she always act a step ahead of her family in such a tender age and how proactive she is when it comes to her parents and siblings. Bird's dedication is also commendable and I love how unorthodox her character when it comes to societal standards. You may be wondering why I'm saying these things to a middle grade character but trust me, this is Bird and I love her.
Fitch is the character that I want to hug. I understand how the world works as a kid and I see Henry Nelson Thomas as this kid who wants to keep everything in its angle and is afraid of unexpected turns that's why most of the time, he had a hard time adjusting to changes. 1986 is not a progressive year in terms of mental health discussion and Fitch's character is accurately developed on how society viewed people who suffer from mental health issues.
Cash is on a different spectrum though. As the eldest Nelson Thomas who's having a hard time in terms of academics, his character is enveloped with insecurities. From being cut-off from the basketball team to his friends moving out of middle school to attend high school after this year, Cash is all set to start fresh in this new year and make a new perspective for his new life to start rolling.
The family dynamics in this book is what set it aside from other MG novels I read in the past as the story presented how a verbally-chaotic family runs. From the way the parents argues about things up to the kids' behavioral adjustment, the book captured the reality about semi-dysfunctional families.
I can say that I grew up in a similar background since I always hear and see my parents argue even in the smallest things, but most of the time it's about who provides food for the family, that's why the family part in this book resonated with me deeply. The way Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Thomas wasn't able to reach out properly with their kids is just heartbreaking but what's new? Families really are a complicated galaxy.
On a different note, the Challenger subplot is what breaks me. I have very little knowledge about this piece of history but after reading this book and putting myself in Bird's eye view, the astronaut-wannabe in me somehow cried with what happened in that much-awaited event.
The last chapters made me wish I can hug the Nelson Thomas kids and have a heart-to-heart discussion because kids deserve a little talk, too.
RATING: 4stars