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theknitpick 's review for:
See You in the Cosmos
by Jack Cheng
What a complex story! I enjoyed it immensely as an adult, but I'm not too sure how much a middle-grade reader would understand or appreciate it. It's from the perspective of an eleven year old, but the book involves themes of depression/schizophrenia, affairs, and other grown-up issues that Alex, the main character, doesn't understand fully or isn't aware of until others around him explain it to him. As a kid, reading this, it might not been very clear until these themes are explained, and, again, it's told in as child-friendly a way possible, but I'm not sure how much a kid reading this would enjoy these parts of the book.
There are other moments that are much more suitable to kids - like Alex's journey to send his golden ipod into space, filled with all his audio diaries of what he went through on earth. All the parts about space and rockets is very cool and very interesting. Alex's life is a complex mess, but he's such a happy, optimistic child, who's searching for the truth, because that's what his hero, Carl Sagan, searched for his whole life. In some ways, Alex is very much an adult, or, in his terms, his responsibility age is 13. I love his connection with his dog, who he's named Carl Sagan, after his hero, and I love all the people Alex encounters and befriends along his journey.
It's such a heavy book - it reminded me a lot of [b:The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time|1618|The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time|Mark Haddon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479863624s/1618.jpg|4259809], with a child narrator but the book itself is much more adult in it's storytelling. The language is meant to be child-friendly, after all, Alex narrates and his understandings of what's happening and going on around him are only what a child would understand about those things - albeit Alex is a little more mature than most eleven year olds.
Still, I enjoyed this book and I would give it to kids who are on a higher reading level and are also mature for their age. I just think they'd get more out of it. There is a lot of life-evaluation in this book and I think a mature middle-grade reader would find that interesting. Perhaps the space and rocket themes would be the hook. I'd also recommend it to any adults I know who enjoy juvenile literature. It's a very well written story and the characters are interesting. Definitely a solid read for me (however, I did listen to the audiobook version, which I'd also recommend - it includes several narrators, which is nice, and the boy who narrates Alex is very good!)
There are other moments that are much more suitable to kids - like Alex's journey to send his golden ipod into space, filled with all his audio diaries of what he went through on earth. All the parts about space and rockets is very cool and very interesting. Alex's life is a complex mess, but he's such a happy, optimistic child, who's searching for the truth, because that's what his hero, Carl Sagan, searched for his whole life. In some ways, Alex is very much an adult, or, in his terms, his responsibility age is 13. I love his connection with his dog, who he's named Carl Sagan, after his hero, and I love all the people Alex encounters and befriends along his journey.
It's such a heavy book - it reminded me a lot of [b:The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time|1618|The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time|Mark Haddon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479863624s/1618.jpg|4259809], with a child narrator but the book itself is much more adult in it's storytelling. The language is meant to be child-friendly, after all, Alex narrates and his understandings of what's happening and going on around him are only what a child would understand about those things - albeit Alex is a little more mature than most eleven year olds.
Still, I enjoyed this book and I would give it to kids who are on a higher reading level and are also mature for their age. I just think they'd get more out of it. There is a lot of life-evaluation in this book and I think a mature middle-grade reader would find that interesting. Perhaps the space and rocket themes would be the hook. I'd also recommend it to any adults I know who enjoy juvenile literature. It's a very well written story and the characters are interesting. Definitely a solid read for me (however, I did listen to the audiobook version, which I'd also recommend - it includes several narrators, which is nice, and the boy who narrates Alex is very good!)