SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS by JACK CHENG.
PRESS RELEASE BLURB: An astonishingly moving and heart-warming debut about a space-obsessed boy's quest for answers.
From the first pages you will fall in love with eleven-year-old Alex Petroski as he sets out on a mission to launch his iPod into space, the way his hero Carl Sagon, the real-life astronomer, launched his Golden Record on the Voyager in 1977. With a series of audio recordings, Alex 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 we all ask ourselves. Where do I come from? Who's out there? And, above all, How can I be brave?
Alex's unique, undefatigable voice will captivate readers young and old and remind you it's always good to see the world a little differently.
>>
Jack Cheng was born in Shanghai and grew up in Michagan. After spending nearly a decade in New York, working in advertising and tech, he now lives in Detroit.
Follow him on Twitter @JackCheng/ www.jackcheng.com
SOURCE: A GoodReads win. An Uncorrected Proof copy, as such I'm unable to share my 'First Sentence' or 'Memorable Moment'.
READ FOR: Not applicable.
MY THOUGHTS: A novel I actually rather liked despite the fact that I felt it was somewhat let down by what I felt was at times a largely implausible plot that at times had me somewhat concerned. Without giving too much away, didn't any of the characters ever notice what seemed to be Alex's mother's disinterest in her son? Didn't they ever question just why an eleven year old was travelling America by himself? Did two grown men really think it suitable to befriend an eleven year old in this way?
No?
Perhaps its just me needing to suspend my disbelief, maybe its just me reading too much into these scenarios rather than simply taking them as a vehicle to explore the issues of which there were plenty.
Issues such as mental illness, loss and finding yourself. Suitable (I would have thought) for most of the 9 to 12 year old age range at which See You In The Cosmos is primarily aimed.
A character I grew to care for ... eventually. As in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, with which this book has been compared, I at first found Alex's voice irritating and, well, sort of rambling (with so many run-on sentences joined without the proper conjunction I admit to becoming frustrated at times) but then maybe this had more to do with the fact that the book was written largely as a set of recordings about life on earth as seen through the eyes of Alex - recordings which he intended to send into space for the benefit of any life forms that should happen across his iPod.
Not a fan of audio-books by any stretch of the imagination. However, somehow a bit disorganised on paper, I can't help but wonder if audio would be a better format for this particular novel.
PRESS RELEASE BLURB: An astonishingly moving and heart-warming debut about a space-obsessed boy's quest for answers.
From the first pages you will fall in love with eleven-year-old Alex Petroski as he sets out on a mission to launch his iPod into space, the way his hero Carl Sagon, the real-life astronomer, launched his Golden Record on the Voyager in 1977. With a series of audio recordings, Alex 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 we all ask ourselves. Where do I come from? Who's out there? And, above all, How can I be brave?
Alex's unique, undefatigable voice will captivate readers young and old and remind you it's always good to see the world a little differently.
>>
Jack Cheng was born in Shanghai and grew up in Michagan. After spending nearly a decade in New York, working in advertising and tech, he now lives in Detroit.
Follow him on Twitter @JackCheng/ www.jackcheng.com
SOURCE: A GoodReads win. An Uncorrected Proof copy, as such I'm unable to share my 'First Sentence' or 'Memorable Moment'.
READ FOR: Not applicable.
MY THOUGHTS: A novel I actually rather liked despite the fact that I felt it was somewhat let down by what I felt was at times a largely implausible plot that at times had me somewhat concerned. Without giving too much away, didn't any of the characters ever notice what seemed to be Alex's mother's disinterest in her son? Didn't they ever question just why an eleven year old was travelling America by himself? Did two grown men really think it suitable to befriend an eleven year old in this way?
No?
Perhaps its just me needing to suspend my disbelief, maybe its just me reading too much into these scenarios rather than simply taking them as a vehicle to explore the issues of which there were plenty.
Issues such as mental illness, loss and finding yourself. Suitable (I would have thought) for most of the 9 to 12 year old age range at which See You In The Cosmos is primarily aimed.
A character I grew to care for ... eventually. As in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, with which this book has been compared, I at first found Alex's voice irritating and, well, sort of rambling (with so many run-on sentences joined without the proper conjunction I admit to becoming frustrated at times) but then maybe this had more to do with the fact that the book was written largely as a set of recordings about life on earth as seen through the eyes of Alex - recordings which he intended to send into space for the benefit of any life forms that should happen across his iPod.
Not a fan of audio-books by any stretch of the imagination. However, somehow a bit disorganised on paper, I can't help but wonder if audio would be a better format for this particular novel.
