You know what I like about middle-grade novels? Everything.
Seriously. I feel like this genre is so often glossed over when it is filled with some of the fiercest friendships, most realistic sibling dynamics, and topics that I would have wished to read about when I was a tween.
Luckily, books like We Dream of Space exist and make my dream come true…about a decade and a half late, but we’ll gloss over that fact.
I am going to be honest and say that I didn’t know that much about the Challenger disaster of 1986. I remember loads of references to it in newspapers in the late 90s but that’s about it. The author takes the reader on a journey of discovery of space and engineering and though I’ve never been the biggest fan of either, I was completely hooked. From the scenes of Bird dreaming of becoming NASA’s first female shuttle commander to the enthusiastic science teacher Ms. Salonga recreating the launch with her pupils and begging the question why exploring space is worthwhile even if it’s dangerous. This is perhaps one of the things I like most about middle-grade fiction: you learn something new even if you’re an older reader and information isn’t “dumbed” down for the younger audience and instead explored in a reader-friendly, engaging manner. Whether you’re 12 or 45, there is a lot to learn in this book about astronomy, fears of failing to measure up and dreaming big even when those dreams may fall through.
The Thomas Nelson siblings also just felt incredibly real. We have Bird who has always been the glue that holds their clan together, Cash who feels a lot of pressure to do well but doesn’t understand why it’s so hard for him, and Fitch who lashes out at the people he cares about without meaning to. I’m an only child so I never know if sibling relationships are “accurate” but the way these siblings interacted – from imitating and nagging each other to saying things they don’t mean but then showing up when it matters – made me feel like I was part of the family. Ultimately, all of the siblings’ dilemmas come back to the fact that words matter – those we speak in anger, those we speak in fear – and that sometimes, apologies are not enough. Yet each of the siblings tries to do their best to make amends if they step out of line and try to be better the next day and that was maybe the best lesson of all in We Dream of Space – that to be human is to fail but more important, being human is to get up again and try again.
There was also a lot of discussion of familial relationships in this book and it hit home (okay that pun was bad). The siblings’ parents are always fighting and the way it affected Bird, Cash and Fitch individually was hard to read about but showcased that not every family is the same way – Bird being surprised that her friend’s family sits down to eat dinner was such a small thing but really stuck with me. Bird dreams of having these kinds of dinners but sadly never gets that wish – instead, her brothers come through and make it work. They’re their own little family within a more broken bigger family unit and I loved how this explored that there’s a lot that happens behind closed doors that no one ever really talks about.
Also, the nostalgia, you guys. I was beyond myself reading this book. I wasn’t even alive in the 80s but boy oh boy, did this book deliver with flashbacks of phonebooks (yes, we used to have those), arcades (I have never seen these in person and I am upset), Walkmans, and a time before cellphones even existed (you had to call people on the home phone where everyone could listen in. The horror!). Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to live in such advanced times but I loved how this just encapsulated the 80s so perfectly.
Hopeful and honest, We Dream of Space is an unputdownable middle-grade novel about space and exploring unknowable truths – within the universe, and yourself.
We Dream of Space is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of May 5th 2020.
Will you be picking up We Dream of Space? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
It’s January 1986. The launch of the Challenger is just weeks away, and Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware.
Cash loves basketball, Dr. J, and a girl named Penny; he’s also in danger of failing seventh grade for a second time. Fitch spends every afternoon playing Major Havoc at the arcade 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 siblings exist in their own orbits, circling a tense, crowded, and unpredictable household, dreaming of escape, dreaming of the future, dreaming of space. They have little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. Salonga—a failed applicant to the Teacher in Space program—who encourages her students to live vicariously through the launch. Cash and Fitch take a passive interest, but Bird builds her dreams around it.
When the fated day arrives, it changes everything.
