Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos - ESSENTIAL

Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos, 240 pages.  Random House, 2019.  $17.  

Language: G (1 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: ; Violence: 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Nova, 12, is with a new foster family and she doesn’t understand where her older sister Bridget is. Bridget is the one who has always takes care of Nova as they travel from family to family, and Bridget is the only one who can understand Nova as she struggles to communicate thru her challenges. Everyone thinks Nova is non-verbal and mentally impaired, but Bridget has always called her a thinker.  As time draws closer to the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, Nova is sure that Bridget will appear as the sisters have been talking about watching it together.

So hard to describe this, but I loved it so much! I love this deep dive into a girl who is considered challenged and really unteachable, but is actually much smarter than anyone besides Bridget has ever recognized.  This would be excellent to read aloud with students up to 6^thgrade.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS