This book is well suited to middle graders. It reads reasonably quickly and is easy to follow. The characters are reasonably well developed and distinct. Each of the three perspective characters - Vega, Mila, and Jasper - has a clear motivation and flaw and these elements directly affect the plot as they trek through the desert in search of meteorite fragments. With a satisfying and realistic conclusion, this book may not be rocking any worlds but its a solid experience.

Join Vega, Mika, and Jasper on their mission to find their own piece of the sky in hopes of solving adult-sized problems. The unlikely crew will have to tackle many desert problems to reach their goals.

Vega and her family own a small convince store in a small town surrounded by desert. Her cousin Mila is visiting for the summer and something amazing happens. A meteorite falls in their town and everyone is on the hunt for pieces of it. Jasper and his dad come to town to join the hunt.

This was a good contemporary middle grade novel. I liked all of the characters and the different problems discussed in here. We have some family stuff and friend stuff. It showed some good lessons on family and friendship.

It wasn’t quite a five star for me but I did like it! I think kids will enjoy this one.

Thanks so much to netgalley and Little Brown for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This is an interesting take on the classic story of children trying to solve the problems of the adults. In this case, Vega wants to save her home and store. Mila, her cousin, is tagging along with her, and doesn’t say why she wants to find a meteorite. Jasper wants to find one because his father has been searching for so long that Jasper is never home to play baseball, or live a “normal” life.


All three go out to where the meteorite went down, in the middle of the night, each with righteous indignation that they should be the one to find it, not the other seekers, not the local college, no one else, because each of them needs to be the one to find it.


This is a very quick middle grade read, and you feel for each of the children, and cheer them all on. They all deserve to “win”. I like how we never know,until the end, who will be the one.
I also like that Mila cares, and doesn’t care. That she would rather look at the constellations, and it turns out to be a good thing that she does. It is interesting that she likes Cigna, the swan the best. My favorite is Orion's belt, but you can’t see that in the summer, and this story takes place at that time.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 11th of June 2024.