… how about a little light reading?<\/p>\n
We just finished this as part of our family reading (which is these days middle-grade fiction):\u00a0 We Dream of Space<\/a>*<\/p>\n Newbery Medalist and\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u2013bestselling 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.<\/em><\/p>\n 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\u00a0Challenger<\/em>, 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\u00a0Major Havoc<\/em>\u00a0at the arcade on Main and wrestles with an explosive temper that he doesn\u2019t understand. And Bird, his twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being NASA\u2019s first female shuttle commander, but feels like she\u2019s disappearing.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Challenger<\/em>\u00a0approaches, Ms. Salonga gives her students a project\u2014they 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.<\/p>\n Told in three alternating points of view,\u00a0We Dream of Space<\/em>\u00a0is an unforgettable and thematically rich novel for middle grade readers.<\/p>\n We enjoyed it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" … how about a little light reading? We just finished this as part of our family reading (which is these days middle-grade fiction):\u00a0 We Dream of Space* Newbery Medalist and\u00a0New York Times\u2013bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly transports readers to 1986 and introduces them to the unforgettable Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas in this pitch-perfect … Continue reading On this terrible anniversary …<\/span>