We Dream of Space
Readers rate it 4.0 (19 on Hardcover)
400 pages · Released May 5, 2020 · Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
Content report card
We Dream of Space parent’s guide: what’s inside
Sexual content
LGBTQ+ themes
Substance use
What it offers
A note for parents
We Dream of Space is a Newbery Honor book set in 1986 that weaves together coming-of-age struggles with the historical tragedy of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The narrative handles the real-world event with appropriate gravity for middle readers, focusing on how it affects the three protagonists and their relationships. The book emphasizes resilience, family bonds, and personal growth through realistic challenges like academic struggles, emotional volatility, and self-doubt—all presented with emotional depth but not graphic trauma. It's an excellent choice for readers ready to explore how real historical events impact ordinary lives.
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From the publisher
Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly transports readers to 1986 and introduces them to the unforgettable Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas in this pitch-perfect middle grade novel about family, friendship, science, and exploration. This acclaimed Newbery Honor Book is a great choi... Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly transports readers to 1986 and introduces them to the unforgettable Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas in this pitch-perfect middle grade novel about family, friendship, science, and exploration. This acclaimed Newbery Honor Book is a great choice for readers of Kate DiCamillo, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Rebecca Stead. Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware. In 1986, as the country waits expectantly for the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, they each struggle with their own personal anxieties. Cash, who loves basketball but has a newly broken wrist, is in danger of failing seventh grade for the second time. Fitch spends every afternoon playing Major Havoc at the arcade on Main and wrestles with an explosive temper that he doesn't understand. And Bird, his twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander, but feels like she's disappearing. The Nelson Thomas children exist in their own orbits, circling a tense and unpredictable household, with little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. Salonga. As the launch of the Challenger approaches, Ms. Salonga gives her students a project. They are separated into spacecraft crews and must create and complete a mission. When the fated day finally arrives, it changes all of their lives and brings them together in unexpected ways. Told in three alternating points of view, We Dream of Space is an unforgettable and thematically rich novel for middle grade readers. We Dream of Space is illustrated throughout by the author. - Publisher.
Shelved under
- Children's fiction
- Space shuttles, fiction
- Brothers and sisters, fiction
- Twins, fiction
- Science projects, fiction
- Teachers, fiction
- Newbery honor
- New York Times reviewed
- Juvenile
- award:Newbery_award
- Accidents
- Juvenile fiction
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ISBN 9780062747303 · Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers