“I’m so starry-eyed for this wise, romantic gem of a book.” – Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda In this smart, heart-warming YA debut perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, two teens find love when their lives are uprooted for their parents’ involvement in a NASA mission to Mars.Cal wants to be a journalist, and he’s already well underway … wants to be a journalist, and he’s already well underway with almost half a million followers on his FlashFame app and an upcoming internship at Buzzfeed. But his plans are derailed when his pilot father is selected for a highly-publicized NASA mission to Mars. Within days, Cal and his parents leave Brooklyn for hot and humid Houston.
With the entire nation desperate for any new information about the astronauts, Cal finds himself thrust in the middle of a media circus. Suddenly his life is more like a reality TV show, with his constantly bickering parents struggling with their roles as the “perfect American family.”
And then Cal meets Leon, whose mother is another astronaut on the mission, and he finds himself falling head over heels–and fast. They become an oasis for each other amid the craziness of this whole experience. As their relationship grows, so does the frenzy surrounding the Mars mission, and when secrets are revealed about ulterior motives of the program, Cal must find a way to get to the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.
An IndieBound YA Bestseller!
An IndieNext List Pick!
An Amazon Best Book!
A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist!
A Cosmopolitan Best Young Adult Book of the Year!
Recommended on the TODAY Show!
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Phil Stamper’s The Gravity of Us is the first love, first launch, astronaut story I didn’t know I needed. I’m so starry-eyed for this wise, romantic gem of a book.
A big-hearted, witty, and intensely relatable debut about reaching for your dreams without losing what grounds you.
Finally! A YA lgbtq+ book that doesn’t revolve solely around coming out. In fact, the sexuality of the main character isn’t even questioned. It was such a breath of fresh air to be able to simply fall in love with these two boys as they fell in love with each other. The drama and tension came not from their sexuality but from the simplicity of being young and awkward and fumbling to grow up and find out what who they are and what they want. Their relationship, set amongst the backdrop of a new space race to get to Mars, was ingenious, original and completely entertaining. I could r stop reading and devoured this story in about a day. From beginning to end, I loved it.
A debut to remember, Stamper’s The Gravity Of Us draws you in for a journey of family, friendships, and ambition while exploring the power of social media and our own voices. Equal parts thoughtful and heartfelt, this book never misses a beat. Cal and Leon have my heart drifting in orbit.
A grounded romance that shapes into its own lovely constellation.
The Gravity of Us speaks poignantly of the things that will attend every human endeavor: family, struggle to know one’s self, and the kind of love that makes you feel like you’re hurtling to the stars.
Phil Stamper’s confident debut is an excellent exploration of modern social media, first love, and how to use your voice to do good, centered around the preparations for the first crewed mission to Mars. Calvin and Leon are fierce and sweet, and I never wanted their story to end. To put it bluntly, The Gravity of Us is out of this world.
At once a tender love story and an honest exploration of anxiety, ambition, and family dynamics, Phil Stamper’s The Gravity of Us pulls you in and takes you on a beautiful, heartfelt journey. Never has the NASA space program seemed so romantic.
Cal isn’t all too thrilled when his dad is chosen to be a part of a NASA mission. It means moving from Brooklyn to Texas, leaving behind his best friend, and possibly giving up his life as a budding journalist. It also means being put on display as part of the popular reality show Shooting Stars. But at least the move comes with the possibility of new friends in the form of fellow astronaut kids Kat and her handsome brother Leon. Maybe life in Houston won’t be so bad after all if his family can just keep it together.
This was just a nice, cute story. I enjoyed it a lot. The characters were realistic dealing with real-life issues. I really appreciated how the author presented one character’s struggle with depression and another’s with anxiety. The plot was interesting and the story flowed at a nice pace. Overall, it was a simple but great read!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The characters were complex, and I thought each was treated as a fully fleshed out human being. The conflict was interesting and engaging, and I loved that the author explored all the gray area. Though the voice felt fairly young, I’d say the content and themes were on the more mature side of YA.
I went into this one not knowing anything about the book. A friend recommended it so I had to read it. I was not disappointed at all. This was such a good book. I loved Cal and Leon. I’m so glad I read this.
I really liked this! I didn’t read the summary going into it, so I had no idea what I was getting into, and I was pleasantly surprised!! I loved the darker implications of social media, and how it can also be used positively, depending on what your end goal is. I loved Cal and Leon, and the other side characters, and the astronaut parents were awesome too. I really liked how they weren’t left out of the story, and the struggle of parenting, trying to do what’s best, and how hard it is to make decisions is so relatable and real.
Debut novel from this author. This is a YA mm contemporary story set in the USA around NASA and a project for Astronauts to go to Mars. Main characters are Cal and Leon. Told from Cals POV. Young love with a twist of adult interference. I’ll read more from this author.
Overall 4 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 4 out of 5 stars
Loved that this was set around NASA!
I love anything and everything set around NASA and the Space Race. This is one of those subjects I’ve read more non-fiction than fiction, but I need to rectify that and search out more novels on this topic. When I first heard about The Gravity of Us I was so excited- a contemporary YA m/m story, sign me up!
While I think some of what happened in this story was implausible, I found it entertaining. Although it is fiction so anything goes! I loved the ode to the 50s/60s and the beginnings of the Space Race. I liked how Cal, after a rough start, jumped on board with being in Texas and supporting his father’s dream. The idea of FlashFame and how it was used in this story was an interesting concept- in this day and age anything goes as far as technology, so it might not be so out there to imagine a 17yo with the reach that Cal ended up having.
In regards to the romance between Cal and Leon, it was very much a case of insta-love. I wish there had been more scenes with them together because things moved more quickly than you’d expect for the amount of time they were together on page. Leon seemed like such a sweetheart. I kind of would have liked to maybe get a couple of chapters in his point of view, so we could understand the depression he was dealing with, and just some of the other things brought up in regards to his character. But this was really Cal’s story so I understand why we didn’t.
I liked seeing Cal’s transformation through the story. He almost came off as unlikable a bit at first, but as the story progressed I really warmed up to him. When you’re whole world is turned upside down in a day I think we’d all be a little upset! But I was happy to see him grow and adjust to life in Texas, even learning to embrace the change.
The narration was terrific. I think Michael Crouch is fantastic. I don’t know how old he really is, but he’s so believable as a teen. He’s portrayal of Cal really gave the character life, which I think helped in the end to make Cal more relatable and likable. I really liked how the Shooting Stars scenes were done, with the full cast audio. It made it feel like we were listening to actual interviews, instead of it just being read by the narrator. All in all, the narration for the book was wonderful.
Seventeen-year-old Cal has his life all planned out, first an internship with BuzzFeed, then a degree in journalism, and then a career as an online reporter. All his plans are set asunder when his pilot father announces he’s put in his application to become one of the astronauts who will travel to Mars with NASA. Cal doesn’t really think his father has chance to be chosen and is shocked and dismayed when Cal senior is chosen for the mission. Three days later he’s in the car with his parents on their way to Houston to join the other astronauts. Despite being told he can’t continue to stream his live-feed report, Cal knows exactly what his followers want and gives it to them. When he meets Leon, another “astrokid,” he falls for him in a big way. The two of them become an oasis of sanity for each other amidst the circus the mission to Mars becomes.
In his debut novel, Stamper develops his characters somewhat unevenly. Cal can be immature and self-centered throughout most of the book, but he becomes more mature and well-meaning when necessary to save the mission. Leon doesn’t feel nearly as well developed as Cal even though, he, too, had to give up his hopes of Olympic gold as a gymnast. And Deb, Cal’s former girlfriend and now his best friend is more mature than Cal and often talks sense into him.
The storyline is unique and the writing well-done.
The reader will come away from this book with the belief that this is a feel-good romance with a happy ending, and who doesn’t love a happily-ever-after ending?
If you love the romance genre or the YA genre, you’ll want to read this book that isn’t in the least your run-of-the-mill romance.
My thanks to Bloomsbury and Edelweiss for an e-ARC.
I would honestly say that this is the best book I’ve read this year. It perfectly captures the awkwardness of young love whilst also being about the space race in a unique and original way.
I read this book in one day! It was fun and entertaining and the love between Cal and Leon kept me turning the pages.
Cal lives in Brooklyn New York and has cultivated a pretty big following on social media doing things as simple as walking through time square or as big catching a dirty politician on camera. He has his life planned out. When his father is chosen to be the last astronaut in NASA’s Upcoming Mars mission, he is uprooted and moved to Houston to become an ‘Astrokid’. The ‘cast’ of the Mars project (astronauts and their families) are obligated to participate in a reality show that loves to stir up drama. In the midst of all this, Cal finds that Houston is not so bad….
I could not put this one down! Cal really evolved in this story and it all felt organic and realistic. His relationship with Leon was sweet and not overly dramatic. The characters had flaws, some obvious, others not so much. One of my favorite things about this novel was Cal and Leon’s relationship, well, not their relationship really, but the fact that it was never taboo, they just liked each other and eventually loved each other and that was beautiful.
My only negatives were:
There were something’s that happened that could be spotted from a mile away, but that didn’t take away from the shock and surprise when the drama hit. The said drama didn’t drag or make the reader cringe, it happens and is dealt with.
I wanted a little more from Kat. She felt really two dimensional, but this did not take away from the story. I just liked her.
Cal collects cassette tapes. I kept getting annoyed when he didn’t know the artists (who doesn’t know who Heart is?!) but apparently this is me just being old. I expressed my annoyance at Cal not knowing some bands and asked my teenagers if they knew them and they did not (even Heart!) so there will be some musical education happening in my house!
The novel left me with a hopeful and optimistic feeling. I am happy to have been able to preview it!