We Dream of Space

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We Dream of Space
We Dream of Space.jpg
Author Erin Entrada Kelly
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Greenwillow
Publication date
 2020
Publication placeUnited States
Pages400
ISBN 9780062747303

We Dream of Space is a 2020 children's novel by Erin Entrada Kelly. It explores the lives of three 7th graders and their dysfunctional family in the lead up to and aftermath of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Kelly earned a Newbery Honor for the book in 2021, after previously winning the medal for Hello, Universe in 2018. [6]

Summary

In January 1986, three siblings, brothers Cash and Fitch, and Fitch's twin-sister Bernadette ("Bird"), grow distant as their parents' marriage becomes increasingly fraught with arguments and bickering. Cash has been held back in the 7th grade, joining his younger siblings, and feels like a failure; Fitch spends most of his time playing games at the arcade to avoid people and struggles to control his anger at school; and Bird is regularly bagdered by her mother about dieting.

Ms. Salonga, Bird's science teacher, enters but loses NASA's Teacher in Space Project contest. Undeterred, she leverages the approaching launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger at the end of the month to encourage the children's interest in space. Bird soon begins imagining conversations with Judith Resnik and daydreams of becoming an astronaut. After the Space Shuttle explodes during launch, the three children come together to support one another.

References

  1. ↑ Hong, T. (2020). "We Dream of Space". Booklist. 117 (1): 144. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  2. ↑ Bush, C. (July 5, 2020). "We Dream of Space". The New York Times Book Review. p. 18. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  3. ↑ Agudelo, J. (2020). "We Dream of Space". Booklist. 116 (13): 60. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  4. ↑ Ellis, S. (2020). "We Dream of Space". The Horn Book Magazine. 96 (3): 124–125. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  5. ↑ Goldstein, Lisa (2020). "We Dream of Space". School Library Journal. 66 (4). Library Journals, LLC.
  6. ↑ "Association for Library Service to Children - Newbery Medal Winners & Honor Books, 1922 – Present" (PDF). ALA.org. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
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