Over two hundred years ago, William Wordsworth advised writers and artists to “fill your page with the breathings of your heart.” And while I doubt Wordsworth imagined that rockets would one day send those breathings into the cosmos, there’s no question that Jack Cheng’s new middle grade novel, See You in The Cosmos (Dial Books, 2017), is full of heart.
Written as a series of iPod recordings, See You in The Cosmos is an epistolary novel for our digital age. Alex Petroski is a “rocket enthusiast” from Colorado who is planning on launching a rocket at the SHARF festival in nearby New Mexico. With his faithful dog, Carl Sagan, at his side, Alex sets out for the festival. This trip marks the beginning of an odyssey that takes him from Albuquerque to Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Along the way, Alex learns valuable lessons about loyalty, trust, and the truth about his family.
Alex’s vivid narration through the iPod recordings immediately draws readers into the mysteries at the core of his life. With a mother who has “quite days,” a father who died when Alex was three, and a 24-year old brother who lives in Los Angeles, eleven year old Alex has learned to be remarkably self-sufficient. And while getting to the rocket festival is the original purpose of Alex’s journey, it soon becomes a quest to find out the truth about his father. Throughout his trip, Alex meets an eclectic assortment of characters who help him reach his goal.
Cheng richly layered novel reminded me of Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons. Like Sal, Alex’s search leads him to undiscovered truths about his family and himself. Readers will be cheering Alex on every step of the way. They may even discover a truth or two about themselves.
Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, Lisa and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every day in March and on Tuesdays throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts. Also, please be sure to visit Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye of Unleashing Readers for more book recommendations.
Reading to the Core 
This one is definitely going on my TBR! Thanks for the review!!
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I have this book waiting to be read and have been putting it off, but maybe I’ll move it up. No other review made it some as appealing as yours has. Thanks for this review.
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I’ve seen this novel popping up on a few blogs, always with glowing reviews. Sounds like a real winner, and a powerful story. It can be hard to find MG novels with male protagonist – the genre seems to be dominated by girls, so it’s nice to find options that are a bit different.
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You had me at “Walk Two Moons” …
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Thanks for this review. I had heard of this book before, but never added it to my want to read list. I’m happy that my library has it on order and am looking forward to it.
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Another on my list, and an odyssey that sounds as if it needs to be read. Thanks, Catherine.
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This sounds like such an interesting book, Catherine – truly a book for our digital age.
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Your slice reminds me that I am not reaching my goal of reading Alice in Wonderland. I need to get on that! I too am thankful for the Two Writing Teachers group who host the SOLSC. It has been an anchor in my life for six years now. I love it. Glad I could find you too.
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Sounds like a very touching story. Thanks for sharing.
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