Book Review | SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS by Jack Cheng

February 28, 2017;

Penguin Random House UK Children’s Puffin

A space-obsessed boy and his dog, Carl Sagan, take a journey toward family, love, hope, and awe in this funny and moving novel for fans of Counting by 7s and Walk Two Moons. ~ Goodreads

Eleven-year-old Alex Petroski is Jack Cheng’s charming and peculiar half-Filipino narrator for his debut novel, SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS. Alex records his multitudinous thoughts and adventures –he records everything– on his golden iPod. He dreams of launching a rocket and taking his golden iPod into space, with the same intentions as his idol Carl Sagan, who launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. So determined, Alex went to the Southwest High-Altitude Rocket Festival in New Mexico with only his dog Carl Sagan (named after his idol, of course) to tag along.

SHARF is not Alex’s last stop, though. From there, he will take a leap of faith to find a man who may be or may not be his father, who also may not be dead yet, as he believed, in Las Vegas. Alex will experience disappointments and confusion throughout the journey. He will also meet plenty of people. They were not perfect or idealistic, but they certainly made a beautiful family together.

Cheng brings a poignant debut novel with a surprisingly refreshing structure –an unusual form that may appear confusing, but actually worked wonderfully in fleshing out his characters and deliver a message of resilience. 

In the beginning, I was skeptical that Alex will break my heart along the way, and that I’ll have no defenses against it. I’m glad that he did not break my heart, but he definitely hooked it. I do recommend that you grab a copy of this book.

All eleven-year old Alex wants is to launch his iPod into space...#SeeYouInTheCosmos 🚀 https://t.co/IeL2Qj5mgE #OutOfThisWorld @jackcheng pic.twitter.com/5XhgF9JEdd

— PuffinBooks (@PuffinBooks) March 20, 2017

Book details:

Title:  See You in the Cosmos

Author:  Jack Cheng

Publication:  February 28, 2017;
                        Penguin Random House UK Children’s Puffin

Genre:  Middle Grade, Children's Fiction

Rating: ★★★★

*Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the DRC, in exchange for this unbiased review.