Cassie is going through a tough time. She thought everything was set. She thought she would be attending a Space Camp, however everything changed when her father loses his job. Now they can not afford to send her to camp. But if Cassie can win this competition things just might change again.

A warm story of how a tenacious girl sets out to attend a space camp, manages to overcome obstacles along the way, be self-motivated and self-managed, challenge herself to improve, develop her analytical mind, become passionate and do whatever it takes to achieve her dream. . Not only does the author exemplify most of her emotional skills, but she also introduces STEM skills. Although you could actually say STEAM skills, since the girl also uses her skills in art, creatively making a movie to present her work. This story seeks to motivate children in their projects for the school science fair, give them an overview of the importance of these competencies in their personal success, and the development of their emotional intelligence to achieve goals and dreams.
My rating is more neutral, since the adolescents or children who read this book and how attractive they find the story, is who should be taken into account.

I'm not sure what I expected of this book, but what I found was delightful.

This is the story of 10-year old Cassie who is a mediocre student but knows she wants to be a filmmaker in space. She needs to be an astronaut and to do that she is aware that a good stepping stone is to go to Space Camp. She figures her parents will just pay for the camp as they have other camps in the past. But when her father looses his job, it is up to her to earn her way there by winning a scholarship. She sets out with determination to do what is necessary to win, even if it means long hours of research and study to have the winning science project.

Along the way she has to deal with a brother who is a real obstacle to her efforts. She has to learn how to write a report, study the science that goes along with her question: What makes airplanes fly. Along the way she learns why airlines limit the amount of luggage a passenger can bring on board. She makes charts which are included in the book. The entire book is a science project!

Cassie writes far better than most 10-year olds. She has to ask a librarian for some help, but basically does all the research on her own not even getting explanations from her teacher or friend because she is afraid she will be disqualified of all the work isn't done by her without help. Because her dad hs no job, she has to find ways to do the entire project without asking for any money for supplies. I'm not certain that many 10-year olds wouldn't find what Cassie accomplished a bit more difficult than Cassie did. But it certainly is a good model for children to emulate.

I loved the idea of the STEM topic and believe this book will make a great present for a foster child I know and love. I can't wait for it to be published!

I received and advance review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This was a quick fun read with lots of heart. Cassie grows as a character by the end which sometimes does not happen in books aimed for children. She turns herself around to reach her goal all on her own. This book is a great model for children to really explore science. The author adds footnotes to get young readers used to seeing them and interacting with them. She also includes resources to find out more about topics covered in the book, one of which is SWE. I have a couple of friends who are members of SWE and to see it portrayed to young readers makes me so happy for them that their organization is getting coverage.

My favorite part of this book is a female character in a science/STEM based book. We need this book for girls!!

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Awesome book! Great female lead character for an age group that could use it! I loved Cassie’s passion and her determination!!! She really was inspiring and I loved that the author brought forth a whole group of older women for Cassie to dream towards. She overcame obstacles and fought and for that she was a character to be admired.

I just read an ARC of The Science of Defying Gravity by L G Reed provided by @keyescanyonpress via @netgalley for a fair and honest review. I will definitely be buying a paper copy of this middle grade book when it’s available for my personal collection. Cassie, the main character, is delightfully real... flaws and all. When her father loses her job and they don’t have the money for her dream of space camp, she determines to find a way to get there herself by achieving academic excellence and doing an award winning science fair project. She makes mistakes, other things and people cause major setbacks, but she keeps trying. I admit, there were two points I had actual tears running down my face because of her setbacks.

Yeah!! A STEM book! I’m always excited to find STEM books to read and review. Here are my pros and cons for The Science of Defying Gravity:

Pros
1. Cassie is an awesome kid who learned a lot about herself in this book. She has some lofty ambitions (to be a movie director in space – isn’t that just super cool!?) and she understands she will have to learn about space and essentially become an astronaut to accomplish her dreams. The problem is that Cassie is not interested in science at all and everyone keeps telling her she’ll need to be good at science if she wants to go into space. So Cassie becomes super determined to make changes and prove to everyone she can learn to like and understand science… and she does! I love a girl with a purpose!

2. Cassie stepped up and made a conscious decision to improve her understanding of science. She learned that taking good notes and paying attention in class (instead of daydreaming) really did help her to understand difficult concepts! Imagine that?? She came to not only understand the concepts taught in her science class, but to actually like science!

3. Cassie’s parents promised her a trip to Space Camp, but when her Dad lost his job the trip was no longer an option financially. But Cassie was determined to find a way there anyway. I loved that Cassie never gave up, despite her failures and setbacks. Her grit and determination was inspiring.

4. The relationships in the book felt genuine to me and probably relatable to a lot of kids. The parents are generally stressed and experiencing financial difficulties, and Cassie’s brothers are a constant nuisance to her (particularly the oldest brother). However, they all sit down to dinner together every evening and talk about their day. It was obvious to me that the parents cared about what was going on, even if they didn’t have the opportunity to concentrate on the kids all the time.

5. I think the science behind Cassie’s project (the forces of flight) was presented in a way that would be understandable and interesting to most kids and particularly to ones already interested in STEM fields. The information is detailed enough that a student could even replicate the project for themselves. And paper airplanes are fun!

6. There are graphs and charts! Real data is used! I loved that!

7. The little crush between Cassie and her friend Wylie was really sweet and totally innocent. I’m glad the romance actually stayed in the background of the story though. Cassie had work to do and didn’t need that kind of distraction! 🙂

8. I can’t tell you how much I loved that the story had a happy ending despite Cassie’s setbacks. It is a great lesson to learn that you may not always be successful in the way that you want, but hard work always pays off somehow!

Cons
1. If I had one nitpick, it would be that Cassie went from someone who initially disliked science and never paid attention in class, to someone who became quite astute and amazingly perceptive with regard to what she was studying (forces of flight). At one point she randomly wondered if Newton’s 3rd law applied to her project! That is impressive, but it didn’t feel quite realistic considering her initial apathy toward science in general.

Summary
Overall I think this was a very well-rounded story! It wasn’t just about STEM subjects, but also about middle school angst, crushes, school pressure, family dynamics, expectations, hopes and dreams, failures, successes, and never giving up. I think middle grade students and educators will love this book and I hope a lot of kids read it and get interested in science fairs and STEM fields and maybe even going to space themselves!

Thank you NetGalley and Keyes Canyon Press for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book did well what it was trying to do, which is make science more interesting and accessible to middle grade students. Sadly, it was NOT one of those middle grade books that I was able to love as an adult. The writing was pretty good, and the story fit together well, it just didn't engage me like some of my favorite middle grade books--maybe because I didn't like most of the characters very much.

There's no 'content' here in the typical sense--no language or anything else inappropriate for the age group. It did bother me that the sibling relationships shown are terrible, and especially that the main character never models any kind of good conflict resolution when others are unkind to her, only anger and escalation. Similarly, though I think her parents were supposed to be 'good but busy', I really disliked them for the most part, especially the way they handled conflicts between their children. While I don't have a specific age cutoff where I wouldn't recommend this book, I would suggest for younger readers using the story as a conversation starter about what good conflict resolution should look like.

Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book stands out because it’s about an 11-year-old girl who wants to go to Space Camp. Usually, kids like that already love math and science, but Cassie doesn’t! She wants to become a filmmaker in space! Her dad loses his job and they can’t afford to send her, so decides to try for a scholarship but that requires academic excellence. I enjoyed reading about her journey as she learned hands-on that science can be fun!

This book stands out because it’s about an 11 year old girl who wants to go to Space Camp. Usually kids like that already love math and science, but Cassie doesn’t! She wants to become a film maker in space! Her dad loses his job and they can’t afford to send her, so decides to try for a scholarship but that requires academic excellence. I enjoyed reading about her journey as she learned hands on that science can be fun!
.

This was a cute middle grade; easy to follow and quick to read.

I loved the fact that this book promoted women in STEM careers, but honestly felt that some things were a little misrepresented. The book follows year 5 student, Cassie, who shows us (in the first science class that we see her in) that she does not understand science or really have a passion for it—really all she wants to do is become an astronaut so that she can film movies in outer space (which I think is wicked cool). Of course, you're thinking, that for this particular dream that this young girl is going to need to know science; well, right you are. Not only does the reader think it but her best friend also tells her that at the beginning of the book. This returns later on as something that Cassie thinks, but not because she seems to have been convinced by her best friend, but instead having made the thought on her own. I don't know, maybe it was meant to be some sort of representation of the fact that she was supposed to be maturing and listening to those around her?

I don't know, but she didn't seem like a year five student.

In fact, that was my biggest peeve of the whole book. Nothing seemed like it would be available to grade five students; how does Cassie know the Dewey decimal system well enough to look for books about engineering without asking the librarian?

•

Highlights:

The relationship between Cassie and her parents – I think this would be, for me, the main component of the book's storyline. I mean, I guess Cassie finding her love of science and things like that is also incredibly primary, but these relationships were real and didn't deter from the STEM-rooted storyline. I liked how it progressed so much and grew into something better.

Cassie is, most of the time, incredibly young-sounding (not quite immature, but something almost like that) – that is not the highlight. The actual highlight here is that she is also incredibly mature at certain points. She takes the initiative to decide what she wants to earn a scholarship to Space Camp, instead of complaining about the lack of money. She is used to the fact that she might be pushed to the back-burner when it comes to certain things (this swings back to the development of her parents and her relationship too).

Cassie and her sibling relationships – oh, the woes of writing sibling relationships. Honestly, Reed did this really well. The relationships she has with her brothers is kind of that pinnacle for her relationship with her parents (not only is she the only daughter, but she is also a middle child).

•

Overall, not for me I don't think. Maybe because I'm not the audience for it (though I read and enjoy MG all the time).

3/5

The science of defying gravity by L. G. Reed is an awesome STEM book about an 11 year old who’s dream is to direct movies in space. I was so excited when I realized that this book used a real science fair project with tables and charts for the reader to see. This book is exciting, readable, and fun.

My apologies, I did not read the synopsis before requesting this book and went solely by the cover. I thought this was a non-fiction educational book with fun facts and pictures about space. I didn't realise it was a novel, as such I won't be providing a review. Great cover though!

The book perfectly incorporated high school angst, a budding romance, financial troubles and family dynamics. A simple book with deep undertones. Nicely done.

Very cool book. It was nice that my son loved it because I also found myself enjoying it. Always nice when a children’s book is enjoyable by the parent as well as the intended audience.