We Dream Of Space - Erin Entrada Kelly

Cash, Henry (Fitch), and Bernadette (Bird) Nelson Thomas are 3 siblings studying together in 7th grade, in Park, Delaware. 

It is the year 1986, and the month of January, as the entire nation waits expectantly for the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, each of the Nelson Thomas children struggle with their own personal problems and worries.

Cash, who recently broke his wrist, loves basketball, and is in danger of failing 7th grade for the second time.

Fitch spends most of his afternoons playing Major Havoc, at the local Arcade and struggles to figure out his explosive temper.

And Bird, Fitch's 12 year old twin, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander, but feels like she's disappearing. 

Each of these siblings exist without paying much attention to each other, with only their tense and unpredictable household and their enthusiastic Science teacher - Ms. Salonga, in common.

With the launch of the space shuttle coming up, Ms. Salonga assigns her students a project where they are separated into space crews, and assigned a position on the space craft, and they must create and complete the mission that they have set out for themselves, in their respective shuttles. 

And when the extremely anticipated, fated day arrives, it changes everything and Cash, Fitch and Bird are brought together. 

About the Author:

Erin Entrada Kelly is a Filipino-American New York Times Bestselling writer of children's literature. Her work has been translated into many languages and all her books are Junior Library Gold Selections. Erin has a bachelor's degree in women's studies and liberal arts from McNeese State University and an MFA from Rosemont College. She lives in Delaware. She teaches in the MFA programs at Hamline University and Rosemont College. She also teaches fiction with Gotham Writers Workshop.

"We Dream Of Space" is her 6th book.

What I thought of the book:

I had pretty high expectations for this book, since I had heard and read multiple rave reviews about "Hello, Universe", a book by the same author. Unfortunately, I don't feel completely satisfied after finishing this.

There were some really great passages, and sentences but the book as a whole did not live up to this hype.

It was fun to read, and was something to do - but the begging felt very flat and the real problem only took place near the end of the book. 

On the plus side, however, the mini illustrations throughout were lovely, the overall message was great (thought it took a while to get there) and it was nice. It also helped me understand a lot more about my siblings, and my older brothers, since our relationship is something like Bird's with Fitch and Cash.

Despite this, I still want to read other books by her in case this was the only one that I felt wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. 

I would recommend this books to anyone who wants to read a middle-grade book about sibling relationships, love, family, and a bit of science. 

Read the book, and let me know what you thought below! 

Note: I read this book for Middle Grade March, the book with a silhouette on the cover prompt.

My Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5.