“Tender and illuminating. A beautiful debut.” –Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal-winning author of When You Reach MeA heartrending and hopeful debut novel about a nonverbal girl and her passion for space exploration, for fans of See You in the Cosmos, Mockingbird, and The Thing About Jellyfish.Twelve-year-old Nova is eagerly awaiting the launch of the space shuttle Challenger–it’s the first time a … space shuttle Challenger–it’s the first time a teacher is going into space, and kids across America will watch the event on live TV in their classrooms. Nova and her big sister, Bridget, share a love of astronomy and the space program. They planned to watch the launch together. But Bridget has disappeared, and Nova is in a new foster home.
While foster families and teachers dismiss Nova as severely autistic and nonverbal, Bridget understands how intelligent and special Nova is, and all that she can’t express. As the liftoff draws closer, Nova’s new foster family and teachers begin to see her potential, and for the first time, she is making friends without Bridget. But every day, she’s counting down to the launch, and to the moment when she’ll see Bridget again. Because Bridget said, “No matter what, I’ll be there. I promise.”
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A powerful story about the extraordinary mind of a young girl with autism and the bond between sisters.
Planet Earth is an amazing story about a little girl Nova, who has autism, and her sister, Bridget. Bridget is Nova’s absolute favorite person on the planet and she couldn’t imagine life without her. The two sisters’ mother isn’t stable and so they go from foster home to foster home. Nova LOVES space and astronomy. She can’t wait until the Challenge launches. When he and Bridget are separated, Bridget promises her sister she’ll make it back to Nova in time for the Challenger’s liftoff. Nova misses he big sister more than anything but she’s also starting to like her new foster family. They are all kind and welcoming towards her and they seem to understand her. Nova starts to feel at home there. Just as Nova starts to feel like a family again and is excitedly waiting for Bridget’s return, things start to turn upside down and some unexpected events take place in Nova’s life.
Such a powerful and heartfelt debut!
We came across Planet Earth is Blue when my 11 year old son was looking for something to fulfill his summer reading requirement. When I showed him the blurb, he was immediately interested. He’s on the spectrum and loves stories that include neurodiverse characters. Seriously, this is the kid who chose Alan Turing for his Day at the Museum historical figure project and Temple Grandin for his research a scientist project. Representation matters. But beyond that, there is so much to love about this story. Nova is such a beautiful, complex character, and the way she’s given a voice in the narrative is clever and insightful. Her struggles are relatable beyond her diagnosis. This story deals with dreams, loss, and ultimately hope, which is something we’ve all experienced.
With my son’s permission, I’ve copied and pasted excerpts from his book report below.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Book Title: Planet Earth is Blue
Author: Nicole Panteleakos
Main Characters: Nova, Bridget, James, Joseph, John
Story Setting: It took place Jan. 18,1986.
Story Summary: 12 year old Nova is a regular kid who is awesome. Not everyone knows that because she can’t speak. She has autism. Nova and her sister were supposed to watch the Space Shuttle Challenger launch together. But her sister is gone.
Main Events: Nova is in foster care.
Her sister Bridget is gone and she promised nova that she would watch the Challenger launch with Nova.
Nova runs away to look for Bridget.
She runs to the car crash site and remembers her sister had die.
Her foster family finds her and later they adopt Nova.
Story Conclusion: Nova writes a letter in her head telling her she is happy.
Write one fact and one opinion about this story: The Challenger blew up. The teacher that yells at Nova is evil.
My son hasn’t always been a reader, but books like this have engaged, entertained, and educated him. That’s priceless!
As close to perfect as a story can get. It speaks to heartbreak and joy, pain and resilience, tragedy and humanity (both big and small) in a unique and utterly engaging ‘speechless’ voice that transcends all boundaries.
Tender and illuminating, Planet Earth is Blue is a beautiful debut novel about the strength of a girl who knows exactly who she is, even when others can’t see her.
Nova is a character you will never forget, who will break your heart and put it back together again in a new way. She felt so real.