Planet Earth Is Blue

A beautiful book about a nonverbal autistic girl in foster care in the 80s, told from her perspective. Nova is smart, space-obsessed, and really looking forward to watching the Challenger launch with the only person who has ever understood her - Bridget, her older sister. Trouble is, Bridget is not with Nova in this new foster home, but Nova is confident Bridget will keep her promise to find her for the launch. In the meantime, Nova must get used to a new school and family who think she's "severely retarded."
The story reminded me a bit of Terry Truman's _Stuck in Neutral_, and it was fascinating (and sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking) to see her perspective. Highly recommended.

Cried the entire time I read it. It’s about a girl in the 1980s obsessed with the space shuttle Challenger launch so in picking up the book I already knew there’d be tragedy in store. Didn’t matter: still cried copious tears. Aside from that I thought it a thoughtful depiction of a nonverbal autistic girl’s inner life. For readers of Rebecca Stead perhaps. Or for adults who remember the Challenger disaster and want to cry copious tears. Picky Aside: why isn’t the girl on the cover in overalls???

I enjoyed this story and Nova's character immensely. I've never read a book about someone on the spectrum. Nova opened my eyes to a world of Autism I never dabbled in before. I remember seeing "special" kids in school who had their own classroom and teachers. They never mixed with the rest of us. More books like this would have helped me in understanding the autism spectrum and not feeling so awkward because I didn't know how to act around children so seemingly different from me. I loved the seamless interweaving of letters into this, dare I say epistolary, novel. With each letter I felt my hope grow and grow, waiting for Bridget to come home. The explosion of The Challenger led to an explosion of my heart when Nova ran away, right to show more the cross where the car accident took place that stole Bridget’s life. My heart soared when Nova finally accepted the love of her adoptive family. I was so proud when she hit her high moments and sunk low with her when she had her tough, bad moments. The author is on the spectrum, which made this novel even more authentic to me. She has Asperger’s Syndrome and teaches special education. She comes from an awareness that many people don’t have. I could not put this book down and have a bit of a book hangover from it as I write this. As a historical fiction fan, the interweaving of the historical elements behind the challenger along woth how people treated special education and special needs children was done extremley well.

Genre: Historical Fiction show less

This book is magnificent. Nova is an autistic 12-year-old who has been bounced between 11 foster homes in seven years. Now she lives with Francine and Billy, the first people to really understand who she is and what she needs. She wants them to be her forever family, but she also wants to be with her big sister, Bridget, who ran away from their last foster home. Set in 1986 against the background of the Challenger liftoff and David Bowie lyrics, this is a gorgeous and moving story that had me crying for the last dozen pages. SO GOOD.

What a wonderful addition this will be to our grade 4/5 school library. Set in the mid 1980s, two sisters are in the foster care system. The youngest is Nova, autistic and nonverbal. Much has been learned since then, but at the time, most children with autism were thought to be unteachable. Only Bridget, Nova's sister, knows her to be smart, "a thinker, not a talker."

Nova is particularly interested in space travel, especially the upcoming Challenger launch with Christa McAuliffe on board, a teacher from their home state!

But right now, Nova and Bridget are separated. Without her sister to understand her, will anyone ever know who she is inside?

Really great book -- love that the author is clear about her own experiences with autism and what parts overlap. Love the story in letters portion of the book. It's a sad read, but Nova and her friends are hilarious and her new foster family is great.
12 YO Nova is newly separated from her sister and is starting with a new foster family. 1989 Challenger Launch

I'm giving a lot of good reviews these days but I am reading lots of books that have already gotten starred reviews or are being talked about as Newbery possibles. This is another beautifully crafted book with so much feels - the story is told in the voice of 12 year old Nova, an autistic & mute foster kid who is obsessed with space & is impatiently waiting for her sister to return & watch the Challenger space shuttle lift off with her. --- For those of us who remember the shuttle launch with teacher Christa McAuliffe on board you know this story is going to have some heart-break in it.

I found it compelling & impossible to put down.