LoveReading4Kids Says
In a nutshell: hopeful, inspiring story of one boy’s brave journey to find the truth | Space-obsessive Alex Petroski is an unusual eleven-year-old, caring single-handedly for his depressed mother and his puppy Carl Sagan (named after Alex’s hero). Readers are given unique insight into Alex’s life because he records it all on an iPod, which he plans to send into space to give aliens a detailed idea of life on Earth. Though to his disappointment he never gets the opportunity to record the heartbeat of a man in love, the journey Alex undertakes more than makes up for that: we travel with him from Colorado to Las Vegas, via the Southwest High-Altitude Rocket Festival, where he tries and fails to launch his rocket, and along the way he makes new friends, and discovers family he never knew he had. Alex is an unforgettable character, his story is poignant, hopeful and – as his bravery is rewarded – inspiring too.
Recommended for readers who enjoy Alex’s adventure are An Island of Our Own, by Sally Nicholls, another story of children undertaking an important journey without the help of adults; Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford, which takes a scientific starting point to examine family relationships; and Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan in which an unusual young hero assembles a new family around her. ~ Andrea Reece
March 2017 Debut of the Month
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See You in the Cosmos Synopsis
An astonishingly moving middle-grade debut about a space-obsessed boy's quest for family and home. All eleven-year old Alex wants is to launch his iPod into space. With a series of audio recordings, he will show other lifeforms out in the cosmos what life on Earth, his Earth, is really like. But for a boy with a long-dead dad, a troubled mum, and a mostly-not-around brother, Alex struggles with the big questions. Where do I come from? Who's out there? And, above all, How can I be brave? Determined to find the answers, Alex sets out on a remarkable road trip that will turn his whole world upside down...
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780141365602 |
| Publication date: |
2nd March 2017 |
| Author: |
Jack Cheng |
| Publisher: |
Puffin an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
311 pages |
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Jack Cheng Press Reviews
Alex is an unforgettably lovely narrator, and is story is out of this world Robin Stevens, author of Murder Most Unladylike
Falling in love with a new book: the very beautiful See You in the Cosmos... this is something special Emily Drabble, Booktrust
I haven't read anything that has moved me this much since Wonder Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places
I love this book - the characters, the story, but most of all, the voice that writer Jack Cheng has created. See You in the Cosmos is the best I've read in a long, long, long time. It's a story that changes the way you see the world. -- Holly Goldberg Sloan, bestselling author of Counting by 7's
Alex Petroski has a big mind, big dreams, and a big heart. His story is full of the real kind of magic-friends well-met, surprising journeys, and heartbreak and hope. This is a beautiful book. -- Ally Condie, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Matched
It is not always that we read a novel that so powerfully affirms our human capacity for grace and love and understanding; we need this book for the ways in which it gives us more to be human beings with. And it gives us Alex, whose face is turned to the stars. -- Gary D. Schmidt, author of National Book Award finalist Okay for Now
This novel is a gift - a miracle. Alex fights with all of his magnificent, compassionate heart to remind us that we humans are first, last, and always creatures of hope. Jack Cheng is as brilliant as his debut, and more than that, he is wise. His novel made me want to be a better person. -- Paul Griffin, author of When Friendship Followed Me Home
