An astonishingly moving middle-grade debut about a space-obsessed boy's quest for family and home.
All eleven-year old Alex wants is to launch his iPod into space. With a series of audio recordings, he 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.

Where do I come from? Who's out there? And, above all, How can I be brave?

Determined to find the answers, Alex sets out on a remarkable road trip that will turn his whole world upside down . . .

For fans of Wonder and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Jack Cheng's debut is full of joy, optimism, determination, and unbelievable heart. To read the first page is to fall in love with Alex and his view of our big, beautiful, complicated world. To read the last is to know he and his story will stay with you a long, long time.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for a far and honest review.

From the first page, I started to fall in love with Alex a little bit. He reminded me very much of me at that age as I was space obsessed. He is an incredibly erudite 11 year old who has a rather different lifestyle to most 11 year old. From the start, you get the impression that his mother suffers with a mental illness and he is her carer.

As the story unfolds, you come across some incredible characters and they paint a rich series of colours that help to paint Alex's life a different colour than he ever thought would be possible.

A four out of five star read.

I am profoundly grateful to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK.

Wonderful heartfelt story of young boy and his dream the send a rocket of information to space. On his travels he's meets a variety of people including a half sister he never knew existed.
Such a different story which keeps you captivated from beginning to end

A gentle read but I didn't feel it had the depths of similar books I have read recently. To be honest it just didn't ring true and started to irritate after a time. Not one for me but I am sure it will be a huge success.

See You in the Cosmos contains the transcriptions of an eleven-year-old boy's voice recordings. Alex loves space and science to the point where he has built a rocket he's going to send into space. With this rocket he wants to send his own version of the golden record that was sent along the Voyager spacecraft. In his case it is a golden iPod, on which he does his best in explaining humans and earth to other lifeforms who might come across his recordings.

Though not explicitly mentioned in the book, Alex is heavily autistic coded. This has lead many people to compare this book to ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’, and I can definitely see where they're coming from. But to me, a real life autistic person, this story has a way more accurate portrayal of an autistic kid, not to mention it being a LOT less offensive and stereotypical.

There’s a lot of realism in his meltdowns (his “hurricanes” as he calls them), thought processes, humor, and the way he uses and responds to language. I could see a lot of myself and my autistic friends and family in him.

Obviously not every autistic person sees the world like Alex, since there are as many variations of autism as there are autistic people in the world, but it is nice to see it portrayed so well!

Found this to be an extremely interesting and heartwarming read.

Alex Petroski is an 11 year old space geek! He loves all things connected to science and space and he lives for making contact with alien beings. In this book he makes a series of 'recordings' on his golden ipod sharing his thoughts on the world he lives in so that he can send the ipod to space for the beings to hear about.

There is more to the story though as Alex has a very dysfunctional home life - he is pretty much left to bring himself up as his mum often has 'quiet' days and he cooks for them both. His older brother works in LA and doesnt live with them and seemingly has very little to do with them. When Alex decides to head off on the train one weekend to meet up with his fellow space geeks from an online forum, we get to see his independant side - although we do then also see his more childlike qualities when things don't go as expected and he sobs. Along the way he meets up with some strangers who seem to take him under their wing, shocked that such a young boy is travelling by himself but inspired by his 'can do' attitude.

What follows is a journey for Alex and those around him, and we also get to see he's also searching for more than aliens as he is trying to find answers about his dad who died when he was younger. He also travels with his dog 'and that is such a sweet bond they both have.

It was a lovely read with darker elements brought to your attention in the form of mental illness, but the overwhelming emotion I had was one of hope and believing in your dreams.

Alex Petroski is an eleven-year old boy living with his dog Carl Sagan and his mother. She is often remote and very obviously suffering from severe mental health problems, spending days on end alone in her bedroom just laying there and staring into space. Effectively Alex is her carer; he cooks her meals, does the laundry and buys the food. To Alex his life is an ordinary life, supported financially by his older but absent brother who lives miles and miles away. His father died when he was three years old and his memories of his Dad are only what other people have told him.
Alex is absolutely mad on Space and Rockets; his knowledge about them is fanatical and impressive. He has made a rocket of his own and his ambition is to launch his space rocket, including his iPod filled with information about our planet and its life forms. He spends hours collecting sound recordings, making pod casts about what it is like to live on Planet Earth and everything else he can think of to share with our neighbours in outer space.
He sets off with just his dog for company on a train journey to a prestigious Space festival, first having prepared food to last his mother four days. He portions the food in four containers and freezes them for her. At The festival he wants to launch his rocket and golden iPod, emulating just what his hero Carl Sagan had done in 1977. This one journey leads to yet another journey and then yet another journey. Alex is curious about life and how he fits in and these road trips are his mission to find out all of the answers to his questions, especially about his family. His proposed journey lasting for four days passes by as he journeys through many states in south west America, before returning home with some questions answered but even more questions posed. He is stunned to discover his mother has disappeared.
‘See You in the Cosmos’ is Jack Cheng’s first novel in the genre of Children’s Fiction. It was original and quirky but I was uncomfortable with the story almost from the off. This is a story about a child undertaking massive journeys, befriending characters that may have been dubious or dangerous and living on his wits. It was totally unbelievable, too far-fetched and in some parts quite preposterous. It was like a fantasy; a dream that could never be true and issues that should have raised questions and caused concern (for instance when he lost his dog Carl Sagan) were glossed over. However I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Penguin for my copy of this novel sent to me in return for an honest review. I’m quite sure other reviewers will suspend their disbelief in this story and find it entertaining and highly readable.

Alex is an eleven-year-old with a passion for space, rocketry and for launching his rocket into space. He has a dog called Carl Sagan, named for his hero. I'm not sure whether the Carl Sagan in the title is still there - in some versions of the listings it is, in some not - maybe people thought Carl Sagan was writing this book.

Alex is preparing to launch his homemade rocket, which he has made and tested in a simulation online, with information and ideas shared with the amateur rocketforum, which is also hosting the summer rocket launching camp in Arizona. Alex has got himself a train ticket to get to the nearest town, and will join the others to share lifts when he gets there. It's all arranged, because he has the responsibility level of a thirteen year-old. It wasn't till much later in the book I discovered he lived in Colorado - I thought he was probably in SoCal.
He's recording just about everything onto an iPod sprayed gold, like the record sent into space with data suggested by the real Carl Sagan to represent Earth to aliens. That's the way this book works: it's the podcast to the aliens.
It's a delightful idea, but some of you will have already wondered about Alex's parents. Alex's mom seems to be dysfunctional at present, and spends all her time in her room, except when she eats the meals Alex has made for her. Alex's dad left when he was three, and nobody talks about him. Alex has found someone with the same name and date of birth in a marriage registry in Las Vegas...

There is a lot to like about this book, once you get used to Alex's stream-of-consciousness recording to the aliens. It's cute and funny and maybe it's representative of an eleven-year-old rocket obsessive, but it some ways he's older than that and in others he's much, much younger. He gets a lot of help along the way, because he's cute and funny... and obviously needs a bit of guidance.

As time went on I wondered whether the material was really appropriate for a middle-grade book - I was surprised the publishers supported a book with a lot of disturbing detail about mental health and potential social worker involvement. Kids having multiple parents living in numerous homes is pretty normal, but this didn't sit well with me. If you take to the podcast style (I did) it's compulsive reading. If you don't, well... it's an irritation, at the very least.

But it left me uncomfortable. As a flight of fancy for a 10 or 11 year old the rocket camp is fun. Looking for Dad is normal. Coping with all the strangers in his life turns out okay (but what if it hadn't been?). Some of the scenic writing is delicious. Talking to the aliens about whether they do things the way we do is cute.

It reminded me of some of the stories from Up, Up and Away, which were written by Midwest MG kids, obviously with a heavy steer from their college. But this author is not a kid, and I don't know whether kids will enjoy this book or not.

For once, this is a book that can fit in the Curious Incident genre without the lead character having some autism. Instead he's just very young, not as mature as he thinks, and utterly naïve about the truth about the world, about his hobby of launching home-made rockets, and even about his own family. I was immediately taken by the warmth and spirit of this book – it really will stand out for the teen-and-just-under age range. Cleverly presented, and just clever, it's a great, heart-warming read.

I was so happy when I received the notification from Goodreads telling me I had won an ARC of this book. So happy in fact I actually applied to review it for Netgalley too as was super impatient to start! Luckily they said yes.

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. At first it made me feel so angry and protective of the main character, Alex. I just couldn’t fathom a kid being in that position. I then remembered many kids deal with things like that and it broke my heart.

As I got further in this book lost my attention, I kept putting it down in favour of other books. I gave it a few days and tried again. Suddenly I couldn’t put it down and I finished within the day. I wasn’t expecting it to take me as long as it did to be honest, as it’s a very short book.

Overall I kind of really enjoy this book. I noticed a few typos and emailed the publishers editing team, and they were lovely. Luckily they’d caught the issues already and as a thank you sent me out a finished edition. I am very thankful for it.

I give this 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Funny, sad and compelling, See You in the Cosmos should win awards this year. The characters are beautifully drawn, from the absent mother to the much loved Carl Sagan. This exploration of family and the need to connect is written with great sensitivity and understanding, and I can't wait to read more by Jack Cheng.

Unique narration, very moving story for children about family and friendship... and space

Such a different idea - the entire narration is made up of audio recordings. Recordings that the main character is putting together to be blasted into space in a rocket he's making, as a record of life on Earth for the aliens who will one day discover them.

Alex constantly talks into his iPod about his life, his mum, his space obsessions, his dog (Carl Sagan). One day soon it will be heard by alien lifeforms. Alex is obsessed with building a rocket and entering it in a competition. With his mum having one of her many 'quiet' days, he takes his homemade rocket, his iPod, his dog, and travels across the country to the competition... Alex is 11. That's not going to stop him.

This is only the start of Alex's story - as you'd expect he meets a variety of characters along the way, and the story takes a few turns as we end up looking back at Alex's life and the story he tells us, understanding more about it as he filters it through his 11-year-old brain. It's a story with an unreliable narrator but also because it's a 'recording' it ISN'T unreliable - we hear other voices, we get to delve into the whole story as it unfolds and others talk to us as well.

A fantastic device, we listen to characters' voices directly, and live their lives as they are going on, but also hear what has happened before, and miss things that we then need catching up on, just as some of them do. Yet this doesn't make it hard to follow. I would say this style will make it of great interest to young readers.

Alex is a very unusual boy, incredibly intelligent (which some readers may have trouble relating to) and obsessed with space, but with a family life that an upper primary or lower secondary class will find fascinating to read about or discuss.

He's such a lovely boy, and his situation, as we find out what is really happening, is heart-breaking at times, though I loved how it brought so many rather wonderful characters together.

A very sweet story, with a unique narration, ultimately uplifting and a great choice for ages 9-13.

With thanks to Netgalley for the advance e-copy.

Alex Petroski is eleven years old (but ‘at least thirteen in responsibility years’) and obsessed with space. He loves rockets, Carl Sagan (both the man himself and the dog named after him) and the idea of making contact with intelligent life on other planets. So much so that he records sounds from Earth and logs his major life events on a golden iPod and makes a plan to send it into space.

But life on Earth isn’t easy for Alex. Through his recordings we learn how he cares for his Mom on her ‘quiet days’ and that his big brother has moved far away. He’s a small boy facing some very big questions (Who am I? Where did I come from?) and his story reveals how a complicated home life and difficult family dynamics are seen through the eyes of a child. Most notable of all, perhaps, is his insistence that he always, above all, wants to know the truth, even if it means having to be very, very brave.

I found the beginning of the book quite slow and wasn’t enthralled by the storyline initially. However, the pace soon picked up and whenever the plot didn’t keep me coming back for more, the voice definitely did. The dialogue reads very naturally and Alex is a loveable, funny and intelligent voice to read. Wise beyond his years, it was a delight seeing the universe from his perspective.

It is fantastic to see a middle-grade debut boldly combining science, family life and mental health in one very readable story. Perfect for space-loving kids age 10+!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of the story is an interesting one. It is written from the perspective of a young boy speaking into his ipod to aliens before he sends it into space as his hero did with a golden record. Personally I didn't feel the story flowed very well as it was a lot of ithe said then she said, but the idea is original and different.

~4.3/5~
Alex seemed underdeveloped for someone his age, but at the same time he acts like he's an infinitely older person. It's overlook-able, but it's still there, especially towards the beginning.

I see his childlikeness and naivety in the wonder and innocence in which he views everything around him. How he initially doesn't even seem to consider the rock hard facts when it comes to something he doesn't believe in, and his enthusiasm when it comes to the rockets is just so refreshing. Not to mention how he doesn't seem to have any particular feelings toward how neglecting his family is toward him during the first half of the book. His lack of cynicism in friend-making is a little concerning for a child that's pretty much alone, though.

Alex and Terra are my favorite. Their relationship is just so pure and wonderful and I have no words that can describe how heartwarming the two of them are, especially after the whole Steve-jealous-and-crushing-children's-dreams fiasco.

I love Zen as well, because he definitely lives up to his name and I feel like he's Alex's rock, constant, whatever you call it. He's such a good friend and takes care of Alex.

This book made me feel feelings, in a very good way. Alex's journey is so wonderfully rocky and wonderfully beautiful. For a debut children's book, Jack Cheng did absolutely brilliantly.

Although the audience is, to me, not exactly a young-middle-school-children-directed book (it sort of reminded me of Wonder, by R.J. Palacio) both books are amazing in their own, dare I say, magical, way.

Thank you to Penguin Random House UK Children's for this beauty, as well as Netgalley.

I loved this book, told primarily in real time (through the recordings on his Golden ipod) by the eleven year old (13 in responsibility years) protagonist, Alex. I couldn't stop reading for wanting to find out how it would all end up. Alex is wise beyond his years, and his goodness and innocence brings out the best in others he encounters in this story. His voice is clear and true. I was in tears at times. Not all stories like his (and there are many) end up as well as his did, but I am glad his did, and the story rang true, despite the relatively "happy" ending. This story is meant for middle grade readers, and I am an adult, but it held my attention and I was invested emotionally. I would highly recommemd it. Lots of good discussion material for young readers and their teachers/parents on a number of topics ( mental illness, absent parent, dreams, perservence, problem solving, love, etc, etc), all addressed in a non preachy, non diadatic way.

If you love dogs, space, road trips and children's imaginations then this is the book for you. A great middle-grade debut that is perhaps even more rewarding for older readers.

Eleven-year old Alex loves everything space-related, so much so that he even named his dog after the astronaut (and his hero) Carl Sagan. Together they set out on an adventure to participate in a rocket-launching competition, all whilst capturing Alex's story and other Earth-sounds on his Golden iPod to send up into space along with the rocket that he has built. Their adventure soon becomes even bigger than they had expected, seeing them travelling from Colorado to New Mexico to Las Vegas and to Los Angeles. With new friends to be made and family secrets to uncover their journey is truly one of great discovery that will see Alex's world turned upside down.

Let me begin by saying that you will fall in love with Alex. He is adorable beyond words with his astronomy jokes, vivid imagination and love for his family. The book is written as transcripts of all the recordings he makes on his iPod, with Alex's narration being spot-on for a child of his age. You get a strong sense of who he is and how he views the world, and the book often had me chuckling at his remarks and generally feeling very protective of him. There's one particular line fairly early on that I think sums up the writing and Alex's way with words pretty well - "Sometimes the clouds inside my head get big and gray and swirly and then I hurricane through my eyes".

The rest of the characters we meet on Alex's adventure are well-rounded with Steve and Ronnie developing from quite selfish individuals into people who are more considerate of the needs of others. Terra and Zen are great from the get-go, and it might just be my existing love for dogs but Carl Sagan is equally sweet (even with his digestive problems).

You could argue that Alex's decision to travel on his own to New Mexico to meet up with adults he's only spoken to via an online message board is reckless and irresponsible, however it's apparent from the beginning that he is quite capable of looking after himself, thus his belief that he's at least thirteen in responsibility years. He also checks in with his mother and brother along the way - it's just a shame that they don't really listen to him. The road trip across four states though is undoubtedly good for him and also for the rest of his family in the long run, with a concluding epiphany that I thought rounded off his journey especially well.

Whilst there are plenty of funny moments the book also touches on more difficult topics such as mental health and abusive relationships, so please bear this in mind if you are considering reading it. There's also a somewhat gruesome accident which you may wish to skip over a little.

It was easy to get absorbed in the story and I found myself getting through it quite quickly. Given its format it would work brilliantly as an audiobook, and I can imagine listening to it whilst on your own long-distance journey would be fantastic. No matter which format you choose, I definitely recommend picking up this book when it's released in the UK on 2 March.

Goodreads rating = 4 stars.

[Thank you to NetGalley and Goodreads for both giving me an advanced copy pretty much at the same time.]

A gorgeous, insightful, funny, clever and quirky book that was an utter delight to read.
Carl Sagan is a fortunate pooch to have Alex as his master and best friend.
I love the concept of crying hurricanes and will use this in future!
Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in places but I think it is because the two main protagonists are wonderfully special boys.
Highly recommended and I suspect this will be a runaway success.
A truly wonderful read.

I found this book monotonous and monotone. I hated the pages of conversation interrupted constantly by the name of the person speaking, it ruined any rhythm there ever was. I would not look for more from this author

When I was sent this book, I didn't really know what to expect because of it being categorised as a middle-grade novel. I haven't actually read that much middle-grade (maybe 2 or 3), so I never know what I'm going to get. See You in the Cosmos in Jack Cheng's debut middle-grade book and whenI heard it was about space, I couldn't wait to start reading as - when I was younger - I used to be obsessed with all things to do with the universe!

All eleven-year old Alex wants is to launch his iPod into space. With a series of audio recordings, he 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. But for a boy with a long-dead dad, a troubled mum, and a mostly-not-around brother, Alex struggles with the big questions.

Where do I come from? Who's out there? And, above all, How can I be brave?

Determined to find the answers, Alex sets out on a remarkable road trip that will turn his whole world upside down . . .

When I looked at the first page of this book, I noticed how different the format was; the chapters were the day-to-day recordings that our main character - Alex - does whilst he is going on his epic journey. And that's exactly what this book is: an epic journey. He travels from state to state, meeting new friends and finding things out about himself that he never knew.

I loved the character of Alex, he felt so raw and vulnerable because of his age, yet he had this maturity that surrounded him and a sense of humour that sometimes made me cry with laughter. Sometimes it wasn't even his sense of humour that made me laugh, it was his naivety, the fact that he was eleven and he wasn't aware of certain things. Talking about characters, there wasn't one character in this book that I didn't like. At first, I really didn't like Ronnie but as the book progressed, he underwent some fantastic character development and I loved him by the end of the book. Terra was also just fantastic. I cannot fault her one bit. All she wants to do is help out and look after everyone, she wants to love and nurture everyone around her and the way that she looks after Alex is so incredibly heart-warming.



"Sometimes the clouds inside my head get big and gray and swirly and then I hurricane through my eyes."

- Jack Cheng, See You in the Cosmos



Even though this is a middle-grade novel, the book - very subtly - has an underlying young adult theme of mental illness, loss and finding yourself among all of the haziness of life. I felt like Cheng wrote the voice of an eleven-year-old perfectly as not once, did I feel like the character was older (or younger) than he actually was. I love how he was always being kept in the dark because of his age, but he felt like he was responsible enough to be told everything. It's the exact feeling that eleven-year-olds feel in reality as well.

Towards the end of the book, we are slowly given the answers to the questions that Alex has been asking himself from the very beginning and the ending is just perfection. I cannot fault it at all.

This is a fabulous book that I urge you to read as it will not disappoint. There is brilliant writing, awesome characters and a fascinating plot that will have you keep turning the pages until you finish the book and you realise that you've been there for five hours reading and it's 3am. This is a definite binge-read.



Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review



Released 2nd March

What a glorious book!

I was deeply touched by this sweet story. For any child whose obsession , whatever it might be ,is borne of a lack of attention from neglectful parents or a child forced to mature before their time, this book will be one that is easily relatable and reinforce the idea that they are not alone. The device of the time capsule recordings is fresh and provides the perfect parenthesis for this story of self discovery in the guise of a child's adventure on the road.

Just as enjoyable for adults as I suspect it would be for children.