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
Jack Cheng was born in Shanghai and grew up in Michigan. He spent nearly a decade in New York, working in advertising and tech. He lives in Detroit. Follow him on Twitter @jackcheng.
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
I love this book - the characters, the story, but most of all, the voice that writer Jack Cheng has created. See You in the Cosmos is the best I've read in a long, long, long time. It's a story that changes the way you see the world. -- Holly Goldberg Sloan, bestselling author of COUNTING BY 7'S Alex Petroski has a big mind, big dreams, and a big heart. His story is full of the real kind of magic-friends well-met, surprising journeys, and heartbreak and hope. This is a beautiful book. -- Ally Condie, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller MATCHED It is not always that we read a novel that so powerfully affirms our human capacity for grace and love and understanding; we need this book for the ways in which it gives us more to be human beings with. And it gives us Alex, whose face is turned to the stars. -- Gary D. Schmidt, author of National Book Award finalist OKAY FOR NOW This novel is a gift - a miracle. Alex fights with all of his magnificent, compassionate heart to remind us that we humans are first, last, and always creatures of hope. Jack Cheng is as brilliant as his debut, and more than that, he is wise. His novel made me want to be a better person. -- Paul Griffin, author of When Friendship Followed Me Home