Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~ 6 hours. Narrated by Ramon De Ocampo. HarperAudio, May, 2020.

Happy first Middle Grade Monday of summer 2020! I read two books over the weekend and am on track for my book-a-day goal so far! Middle Grade Monday features We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly. This story is set in the weeks leading up to the launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle in January of 1986 and centers on a family in crisis. Bird and her twin brother Fitch used to be close; but Fitch is struggling with anger that is becoming uncontrollable and Bird, who is smart and interested in science, especially space science, feels invisible. Their older brother, Cash, was left back and can no longer play basketball because of his grades. He's in seventh grade with them, struggling and worried he may have to repeat seventh grade yet again. Their parents' marriage is not happy and the two fight all the time leaving the children feeling unmoored and unsafe. Their science teacher, who envies Christa McCauliffe's luck in being chosen to be the first teacher to go to outer space, has her students learning all about the Challenger Mission. Bird's personal hero is Judith Resnik, the only other woman on the crew and one of few female astronauts. This book is quite sad, but beautifully written. Really, the portrayal of dysfunction was exquisitely painful. Readers will root for these three siblings as they try to find their way.