I picked up this at first because I love the setting. My family and I fell in love with the landscape of southern Utah years ago and Zion is on our list of places to go. I was unprepared for the emotional journey it would take me on, but loved the tenacity and determination of Tuesday. I’m so glad that he story ended up the way it did in the end. I certainly was routing for her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy of Where the Sky Lives for me to preview.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Dealing with grief is hard enough for anyone at any age. Author Mrs. Dilloway give's us Tuesday a young girl struggling with the loss of her Uncle Ezra. We also fall in love with the Zion National Park, with it's beautiful descriptions.

This was a wholesome read. Tuesday and her efforts of trying to save Zion are fun to read.
Overall 4/5

I loved the setting of this book. This book delivers a message of the power of social media, that kids can make a difference in saving the environment, and that time and friendship can help people heal.

This was a great book! I liked the themes of nature and preservation. I've read many middle grade books that take place in the outdoors, but this one had a fresh take. I liked reading about Tuesday's efforts to save her park. I also liked the friendship with Carter and the friendships that they built with the adults in the story.

Where the Sky Lives is an excellent middle grade novel about grief, environmentalism, and family. Tuesday Beals lives in Zion National Park where her mom, Dana, is an archaeologist. Her best friend Carter also lives in the park with his stepdad who is a park ranger. Tuesday and Carter love to hike, rock climb, and watch the stars. Tuesday’s uncle unexpectedly dies and her mom starts pulling away. And then the neighboring property, Hedges Ranch, is sold to a developer. Tuesday is having a hard time dealing with all the changes. Tuesday and Carter set out to look for a way to save the pristine land. Looking for a way to save the land helps Tuesday deal with her uncle’s death, and eventually gets her mom to start dealing with it too.

This was a great book that deals with grief on a level middle graders can understand. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

A sweet story, well-written with a good discussion of grief, a strong sense of place, and clearly written narration. While some of the secondary characters didn't come off a strongly as they were probably intended (Silas, for example, faded for me a bit) it's a nice story about the bonds between family, friends, and nature.

Are #Tuesdaybooktalks a thing because if not, I’m declaring them. It fits perfect with today’s #caittalksbooks!

WHERE THE SKY LIVES by Margaret Dilloway (@fumblingtowardokay) is a middle grade realistic fiction about Tuesday Beals who loves living in the Utah wilderness with her mom who’s an archeologist. When her Uncle Ezra dies & leaves Tuesday a riddle, she has no idea it will lead her on an adventures of saving the dark skies of their favorite stargazing space.

This is a beautifully written story about the process of grief, activism, & perseverance. For much of the book, Tuesday who reads as neurodiverse, works through the grief of losing her Uncle while also fighting for her home.

While it’s a story about grief, it’s also a story about fighting for what you believe in & the power of activism set against beautiful Zion National Park. I loved the deeply rooted STEM themes centered around astronomy, our Natural Parks, & engaged animals. Tuesday is a budding activist who will inspire so many readers, not to mention a fabulous representation of girls in STEM! (As are many of the adult characters in the story as well!)

I felt wholly immersed in the setting as Dilloway’s prose about Zion National Park is gorgeous. It’s clear Zion holds a special place in her heart.

WHERE THE SKY LIVES releases today & I think it would be a really fun one to bring into the middle grade #elaclassroom
Here are a few ways you could use it:

▫️a whole-class read aloud during a study of our National Parks. Pair it with a research project on a park of students’ choice, then have them present their findings to the class
▫️pair with a reading/study of GALAXY GIRLS: 50 AMAZING STORIES OF
WOMEN IN SPACE by Libby Jackson
▫️use it to teach about activism then have students choose a National Park/endangered animal/nature-based problem & create a way to solve it
▫️independent/choice reading for fans of realistic fiction/contemporary/ STEM centered stories
▫️cross curriculum this would be a great book to pull into science class (nature studies! astronomy!) or even social studies (National Parks! Geography!)

Thanks to @netgalley and @harperkids for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.
#readwithcait #mslreads #mglit #middlegrade # WheretheSkyLives #NetGalley #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #elateacher #teachersofinstagram #englishteacherbookrecs

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in return for an honest review.

I really liked the National Park setting and I truly felt transported to Zion, which is a park I've visited several times and always enjoyed. I enjoyed how passionate Tuesday was about fighting to keep Zion dark and the teamwork required to do so, I think we make the most change when we work together.

I do have some questions about the authenticity of kids gaining lots of attraction on social media for their causes, does that truly happen and does the inclusion of this in books encourage kids to use social media in ways that maybe aren't great?

Where the Sky Lives addresses many issues, from grief to activism to teamwork. Tuesday feels so alone in trying to navigate the death of her uncle while also trying to save one of her favorite nature spots from development. It's a great story of friendship and sharing tribulations with those who are close with us.

This mystery/adventure story is the perfect pick for young activists and environmentalists. It is set in Zion National Park where Tuesday Beals has grown up with her archaeologist mom. After her beloved uncle Ezra dies, Tuesday and her mom must navigate their grief and loss. Tuesday channels her grief into activism as she seeks to limit the development of the land around Zion that was recently purchased to turn into homes and shopping centers. I loved the tender friendships that are spotlighted in this book and was inspired by Tuesday's persistence and determination.

A magnificent young adult novel with highly descriptive settings and multifaceted characters as varied as the scenes they occupy. The story is filled with realistic dialogue and a vocabulary that will push young readers limits and that paints vivid scenes. Readers join Tuesday in her quest to learn more about her beloved late Uncle Ezra. As Tuesday processes her grief, she learns more about herself and the world around her. I’m requesting this for our school library.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Tuesday lives in staff housing near Zion National Park, where her single mother, Dana, works as an archaeologist. Tuesday's best friend, Carter, lives nearby, since his stepfather, Grant, is a law enforcement park ranger. Tuesday loves her life at the park, but misses her uncle Ezra, who has recently passed away. Her mother is also struggling with this loss, and also is worried about her job. Funding is always difficult, and she's been furloughed several times, which has lead her to investigate jobs at universities. There are big changes to the park as well; a local farm, Hedges Ranch, has been sold to a developer who is going to build high density housing. While the environmental impact, especially on the night sky, is going to be devastating, there's no stopping the developers. This doesn't mean that Tuesday and Carter don't try. Tuesday gets a wooden box camera that a resident hipster artist has thrown away in a huff, and starts to take pictures. She talks Dana into letting her have an Instagram account, and tries to rally support for saving Hedges from development. Rich and famous influencer, Lyla, is visiting the park and gets interested in Tuesday's project, so has her tons of followers interested in it as well. Tuesday is sure that a note her uncle Ezra wrote from the hospital might hold the key to saving the park, and works to investigate what the note might mean. Dana is still concerned about her job prospects, so has applied for a job at South Dakota State University. Will Tuesday be able to save the park by solving her uncle's riddles before she and her mother leave?
Strengths: The description of the national park, and Tuesdays rambles across it in her attempts to save it from development are the best part of this novel. Of course, it made me want to go visit Utah, but also made me want to stay home in order to protect the fragile environment of the park. The small community was an interesting one, and Carter and his family, the artist, and the graduate students working on various projects all added an interesting dimension to the book. Young readers who are fans of Instagram will be enthralled with young Lyla's influence, fame, and wealth, and be glad that she is trying to protect the area. People traveling to beautiful natural places to take photos to post on social media is a big thing, apparently, and it doesn't always end well. Dana's struggles with employment are very realistic, and she's very lucky to get a university job!
Weaknesses: Emotionally, this book is more on the lyrical, contemplative side. I wish it had been more upbeat and adventurous. There was a lot of suspense about the uncle's death that really didn't go anywhere. The mother's grief caused her to not take care of Tuesday as much as Tuesday needed her to.
What I really think: This cover reminds me a bit of Swinarski's What Happens Next, another quiet story with a very particular place for its setting, and the national park setting reminded me a bit of Bowling's The Canyon's Edge. Fans of King's The Year We Fell from Space or Haydu's One Jar of Magic will be intrigued by the mystery as Tuesday struggles with coping with her uncle's death.

Where The Sky Lives, by Margaret Dilloway, follows Tuesday Beals, a twelve-year-old girl who lives in Zion National Park where her mother works as an archaeologist. She is coping with the death of her Uncle Ezra, her mother's brother, who had been an astronomer and had basically been like a father to her. After finding out that developers have purchased Hedges, a privately-owned land preserve next to the park, and that their construction there will not only destroy the pristine land currently kept in Hedges but also deteriorate the quality of the park, she decides to take action by trying to find something that will force them to stop construction.

I really like Tuesday. She's very smart and down-to-earth, though she can be blunt and doesn't always understand people. I liked how determined she always was. I also appreciated her journey with coping with her grief surrounding her uncle, and learning to accept that things won't always be the same as they've been, but that that doesn't mean that you should accept negative changes that can still be reversed. I will say that she does not have much of a character arc, or much in the way of development; she learns some things about allowing people to grieve at their own pace, but there isn't much beyond that.

The other characters are all enjoyable, if not terribly fleshed-out. Tuesday's best friend, Carter, provides a nice foil to her personality-wise during their scenes together. Their dynamic regarding social media was interesting as well, and this is one of the first books I've read where it actually seemed like the author was aware of how social media worked when they were writing it. Carter's much more into social media than Tuesday, but when Tuesday starts learning photography with a camera that the visiting artist at the park gives her, Carter encourages her to start posting her photos online to help spread the message about the park to try and prevent the construction.

Tuesday's relationship with her mom has been complicated since her uncle's death, so seeing them learn how to cope with that loss was very interesting as well. While I do think that that aspect of the book, and Tuesday's coping with her grief in general, could have been more of a focus, I still enjoyed what aspects of it were there. It has some nice discussion of how people deal with loss in their own way and at their own pace, and that there's nothing that you can do to force somebody else to speed up that process.

I also enjoyed Tuesday's friendship with Silas, the artist-in-residence at the park. Her journey with learning photography was definitely an interesting aspect of her character, but Silas' parallel learning to cope with his break up while Tuesday was watching her mother deal with grief as well was definitely an intriguing point as well, and served as the catalyst for some of the discussions about grief and acceptance.

I really appreciated all of the scientific and conservation-based aspects of the book. The national park setting was fun, and I loved all of the archaeological and astronomical references and scenes. Parts of it did feel a little too lecture-y at times, but then I am above the age of the target audience and thus already knew most of the information conveyed, particularly the more basic aspects of conservation and light quality and such. The book also had a lot to say about how anybody can make a difference, and how even small actions can have large impacts, especially in activism-related issues, which I think is a really important ,message for younger readers to hear.

I will say that the plot structure was quite simple; the saving-Hedges plan took up the majority of the story, and then there was the subplot with Tuesday and her mother coping with their grief, and that was about it. The pacing was also a little slow and repetitive at times.

I really enjoyed Where the Sky Lives, and I'm giving it 4 stars. It raised some really important points about coping with loss and about environmental activism, both of which I believe to be important lessons for middle-grade (and older) readers to be exposed to. Tuesday is curious and determined, and is just a very likable character that one can't help but root for. Despite the very simple plot structure and relative lack of character development, I still liked the book a lot and would recommend it to any middle-grade reader looking for a STEM-based narrative, or just for anybody interested in the national parks or in environmental activism.

I really enjoyed this unique look at Zion National Park through the eyes of one of it's longtime residents. This is a great book for fans of Carl Hiaasen's middle grades, as it incorporates a fair amount of eco-awareness, It does a nice job dealing with grief, highlighting the magic of photography, and cultivates an amazing friendship. I definitely will pick up a finished copy of this for my third grade classroom. I think it could be a great book to open up some classroom discussions and have some important conversations.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel.

Where the Sky Lives is a sweet novel about letting go of grief and activism! When Tuesday finds out that there will be a housing development where she lives, she is upset. Astronomy is one of her favorite things to do, which was taught to her by her late Uncle Ezra. It is one of the only things left of him, and she is worried that the light pollution will ruin the night sky. When Tuesday finds evidence of an endangered species living there, she goes on a journey to try and save the park.

This was a sweet book and I enjoyed the story. However, I feel like the ending was not very conclusive and I would have liked a bit more backstory. Overall, a heartfelt read that would be a good pick for any middle grade reader who likes environmental activism.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-ARC of this title. I really enjoyed this unique look at Zion National Park through the eyes of one of it's longtime residents. This is a great book for fans of Carl Hiaasen's middle grades, as it incorporates a fair amount of eco-awareness, It does a nice job dealing with grief, highlighting the magic of photography, and cultivates an amazing friendship.

Tuesday Beals is a 12 year old with many interests in the outdoors, the night sky, and the wonders of Zion Park where she lives with her archeologist Park Ranger mother. Having adventures with her friend Carter helps assuage some of the deep sorrow she continues to feel over the loss of her beloved Uncle Ezra a year ago, who was a father figure to her and encouraged her scientific side. Tuesday is upset to find out that a large tract of land adjacent to the park might soon be under real estate development, with potential damage to the environment, and a loss of the deep dark skies that make her astronomical viewing with her telescope so rewarding. A serendipitous discovery of a camera, discarded by the Park’s current artist-in-residence, a rather reclusive man with his own personal sorrows, leads Tuesday to new adventures in photography and some new supporters of her work. Can Tuesday find and photograph proof of endangered animals on the preserve that is in danger of development? Can she solve the last riddle that Uncle Ezra left for her and her mother (who is deeply mourning the loss of her only sibling), so that they can find the last resting place for his ashes that he wanted? I found this book to be engaging, informative, and well crafted – with lots of information about Zion and the environment, while still keeping the human elements of Tuesday’s story front and center. Strongly recommended.

Tuesday lives in Zion National Park while mom works as an archaeologist and ever since Uncle Ezra, an astronomer, died her mom has seemed more distant and less fun. Things aren’t the same without him because they don’t go camping and look at the stars. One day Tuesday finds a poem that Ezra left behind and she wonders if there are clues in it. Tuesday gets her friend Carter to help her search the Hedges Ranch where they are going to be building. The kids see a possibly endangered animal but aren’t sure what it is. They convince Lyla Redding, a You-tuber conservationist to come out and lend her support. Lyla has an idea. Will it work? Tuesday has an idea to help her mom move on from her grief because Ezra said “ the only way to end something is to go through it” and “the stars are where we come from.” Does her mom move on? Can they all save Hedges Ranch from being developed which will ruin being able to see the sky and stars?