| Environment |
| Family |
| Science & Nature |
| Marriage & Divorce |
| Social Themes |
| Depression & Mental Illness |
| Juvenile Fiction |
Summary
Summary
The deeply affecting next book from acclaimed author Amy Sarig King. Liberty Johansen is going to change the way we look at the night sky. Most people see the old constellations, the things they've been told to see. But Liberty sees new patterns, pictures, and possibilities. She's an exception. Some other exceptions:Her dad, who gave her the stars. Who moved out months ago and hasn't talked to her since.Her mom, who's happier since he left, even though everyone thinks she should be sad and lonely.And her sister, who won't go outside their house. Liberty feels like her whole world is falling from space. Can she map a new life for herself and her family before they spin too far out of reach?
Author Notes
Amy Sarig King is the author of the middle grade titles Me and Marvin Gardens , a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and The Year We Fell From Space , an ALSC Notable Children's Book. She has also published many critically acclaimed young adult novels under the name A. S. King, including Please Ignore Vera Dietz , which was named a Michael L. Printz Honor Book; Ask the Passengers , which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Michael L. Printz Award winner and LA Times Book Prize finalist Dig ; and SW/TCH. After many years farming abroad, she now lives back in southeastern Pennsylvania with her family. Visit her website at www.as-king.com and follow her on Twitter at @AS_King.
Reviews (1)
Horn Book Review
Twelve-year-old "amateur creative astronomer" Liberty Johansen, having memorized all the constellations, makes up her own and meticulously maps them. Her love of the cosmos comes from her father-who, at the start of the book, is separating from Liberty's mother, his severe depression (and, we find out later, infidelity) too much strain to bear. Liberty thinks of it as their family's "free fall from space," but then something does fall from space-a meteorite, which begins communicating with her. The meteorite offers comfort, as Liberty worries about her younger sister Jilly, who doesn't want to leave the house; her own mental health ("maybe we should have gone with Dad and not stayed with Mom. Because if something happens to my brain, I don't want her to kick me out too"); and the whole boy-girl thing, having been "excommunicated" from sixth grade for making fun of the pretend recess-time weddings ("It was the Tuesday after my dad moved out. Of course I thought weddings were stupid"). As she navigates her new family structure, Liberty loses her love for the stars and for herself before, cathartically, reconnecting with both. King (Me and Marvin Gardens, rev. 1/17, for middle graders; and her masterful YA oeuvre including Ask the Passengers, rev. 1/13, and, most recently Dig., rev. 3/19) is keenly attuned to her characters' humanity, from the core family members to Dad's new girlfriend to the neighbors going through a parallel family breakup. As always, the author's sensitivity to her characters' situational challenges is stunningly, compassionately insightful-and her narrative voice and just-this-side-of-realism setting uniquely her own. Elissa Gershowitz November/December 2019 p.89(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
