See You in the Cosmos

ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Alex is 11 in years, but grown-up in experience. His father left long ago, his mother has never gotten over it, his brother has a job elsewhere, and while he cares about Alex and his mother, is too far away to do much more than send money. Alex talks to his hero, Carl Sagan, or to his dog, also called Carl Sagan but mostly he speaks into his ipod, describing what he sees. His plan is to launch the ipod into space, so aliens will know about life on earth. To that end, he takes himself and Carl Sagan across country to the Southwest High Altitude Rocket Festival, befriends some fellow space-nerds, looks for his father, and discovers a lot more about life and how to live. At times poignant, sometimes funny, but always full of heart. Ages 11-13 Lindy Jones

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An astonishingly moving middle-grade debut about a space-obsessed boy's quest for family and home. All eleven-year old Alex wants is to launch his iPod into space. With a series of audio recordings, he will show other lifeforms out in the cosmos what life on Earth, his Earth, is really like.  But for a boy with a long-dead dad, a troubled mum, and a mostly-not-around brother, Alex struggles with the big questions. Where do I come from? Who's out there? And, above all, How can I be brave?  Determined to find the answers, Alex sets out on a remarkable road trip that will turn his whole world upside down ...For fans of Wonder and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Jack Cheng's debut is full of joy, optimism, determination, and unbelievable heart. To read the first page is to fall in love with Alex and his view of our big, beautiful, complicated world. To read the last is to know he and his story will stay with you a long, long time.