Skip to main content

Planet Earth is Blue

Image
By

Planet Earth is Blue
By Nicole Panteleakos
Wendy Lamb Books, 2019. Fiction.

Twelve-year old Nova is used to being bounced around - she and her older sister Bridget have lived in 11 foster homes in 7 years - and even though the situation changes a little every time, the diagnosis Nova gets at school is always the same: "Cannot read. Cannot speak. Severely mentally retarded." Nova is autistic and mostly nonverbal and so she can't find the words to explain to her teachers and social worker that she can read and understand them - she just doesn't have the words to explain. Now, Nova is living with her new foster parents Billy and Francine and waiting for the launch of Challenger Space Shuttle and the return of Bridget who ran away from their last foster home but promised she would return to watch the first teacher go to space.

Nova is an instantly likable character who comes to life through her letters to Bridget in a very satisfying way. Her fascination with space and constant reminders that anyone can make it to space if they don't stop believing are both realistic and refreshing. Nova is an intelligent and nuanced child, and it is heartbreaking to see the reactions from adults who don't understand that. The 1980's setting, and related author's note, gives good context to the poor treatment Autistic children received for a long time. This book packs a big emotional punch and will certainly help readers develop more empathy and compassion.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stand Tall by Joan Bauer

By DeeDee
Stand Tall By Siena Siegel by Joan Bauer Putnam, 2002, 182 pgs Realistic Fiction Tree is 12 years old and over 6 feet tall. That would be great if he were a basketball player, but he is not. Dealing with his unusual size is not Tree's only challenge. Tree's parents have recently gone through a divorce, and his grandfather has had his leg amputated as the result of an old Vietnam War injury. The strength of this book is the characterizations. All of the main characters are dimensional and sympathetic. Bauer sets the characters in real and often funny family situations. Best of all is the character of Tree. He is boy with a heart to match his stature. This is a great book for boys or girls ages 9-12, as a read aloud or for individual reading. This book could also be a good Rx book for children whose families are going through divorce, or for anyone who feels like they don't fit in.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker

By
  Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker By Heidi Heilig New York: Greenwillow Books, 2025. Fiction. 291 pages. Thanks to Cincinnati Lee's no good, dirty rotten, artifact stealing great great great grandfather, Cincinnati's family is now cursed and Cincinnati feels like it's up to her to break the curse. Which involves trying to steal the artifacts back from museums that her grandfather robbed from graves and archeological sites around the world and return them to their countries of origin. But when Cincinnati's first artifact stealing mission goes awry, she decides it might be more effective to steal an all-powerful artifact herself that she can use to break the curse - The Spear of Destiny. Unfortunately her race for the spear will pit her against art smugglers and thieves intent on finding the ancient artifact themselves. If you are looking for an Indiana Jones read-alike, this is the perfect for you! Heavy on the adventure with similar levels of mysticism to those seen in th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more