Lucy loves space. She loves to gaze up at the stars and bask in space’s bigness and its here, there, and everywhereness. She loves it so much that she built a rocket ship in her backyard, hoping that one day she can use it to explore space herself. The ship is just Prototype I, though, so it’s not ready to carry anyone into orbit yet. Or so she thinks.
Laika doesn’t give much thought to space—she is a dog, after all. The thing that Laika loves the most is Lucy. She loves Lucy so much that, one evening, she wanders into Prototype I looking for her—and is promptly launched into space.
While Laika takes off on an intergalactic adventure, Lucy begins a lifelong scientific quest to bring her dog home. Told from the two friends’ alternating perspectives and, in turns, heartbreaking and hilarious, this tale will win over anyone who has ever loved a pet, or who has looked at the stars and wondered just what might be going on in the here, there, and everywhereness.
A Library Information Technology Association Excellence in Children’s & Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Book
“I wish I had this book when I was a kid! It brings you on a fun adventure through the universe and sneaks in some fascinating science along the way.”—Emily Calandrelli, Correspondent on Bill Nye Saves the World
"Reminiscent of Roald Dahl's style . . . . For those who might enjoy a dog book, a science book, or just a good story."—Kirkus
"Readers who have ever loved a dog and tinkerers who dream of leaving the prototype stage of design will enjoy this tale of friendship and improbable interstellar canine time-bending."—SLJ
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
August 15, 2017 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780399554346
- File size: 28859 KB
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780399554346
- File size: 28859 KB
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- ATOS Level: 5.5
- Lexile® Measure: 900
- Interest Level: 4-8(MG)
- Text Difficulty: 4-5
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Reviews
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Kirkus
May 1, 2017
Lucy must be a very intelligent girl, since she is able to build a rocket capable of traveling nearly the speed of light from stray parts--that then accidentally launches her hapless basset hound, Laika, into space.From that point, the tale alternates between Laika's strange adventures and Lucy's not especially commonplace life, as the white, science-focused girl learns to manage her grief over her lost dog and grows into a very clever astrophysicist. She's so clever that she wins the Nobel Prize for physics. Laika's adventures simply increase in strangeness, as she's rescued by doglike extraterrestrials in a bone-shaped spacecraft that passes through a wormhole on its way to Alpha Centauri. For Laika, time spins rapidly past. For Lucy, a lifetime goes by before they are miraculously reunited. The tale is told in often repetitive language that's reminiscent of Roald Dahl's style, with most sentences unvarying in structure. This somehow imparts a sense of fable rather than mere story, but this style has the potential to grow tedious and annoying. Saving it from tedium are Laika's delicious doggy enthusiasm, Arnaldo's evocative illustrations, the lovely, simple explanation of difficult concepts of space and time, and, of course, a very happy ending. For those who might enjoy a dog book, a science book, or just a good story. (Science fiction. 10-14)COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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School Library Journal
May 1, 2017
Gr 4-6-A lesson in relativity for both space enthusiasts and dog lovers. Improbable as it may seem, Lucy, a young British girl passionate about astronomy, builds a rocket ship in her backyard. She has named it Prototype I, as she assumes it will take her many iterations before she has an actual functioning rocket. Into the rocket one night clambers her likable but not very bright dog, Laika. Through a series of blunders, the dog launches the rocket. Lucy has programmed the rocket to travel at nearly the speed of light, so the chapters alternate between a bereft Lucy, who ages and grows up to become a Nobel Prize-winning astronomer, and Laika, who is away from her beloved human for only a few weeks. Readers are aware that Laika is adventuring in space while Lucy spends her life in a state of melancholy over Laika's fate. A satisfying deus ex machina brings the book to a happy ending, with the laws of physics obeyed. Though suspension of disbelief is required throughout the story, readers who have ever loved a dog and tinkerers who dream of leaving the prototype stage of design will enjoy this tale of friendship and improbable interstellar canine time-bending. VERDICT Infused with a tone of loss and longing for loved ones left behind, this novel may need help finding the right audience, but the theory of relativity is brought to life vividly.-John Scott, Friends School of Baltimore
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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The Horn Book
January 1, 2018
Child Lucy builds a spaceship that accidentally carries her dog, Laika, into outer space. Because time passes differently in space, Lucy lives a whole lifetime and is an elderly, Nobel Prizewinning scientist when she's finally reunited with her beloved pet. Told from Lucy's and Laika's alternating perspectives, the plot meanders, but Buckingham's precision with language results in beautiful descriptions. Expressive grayscale illustrations are included.(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
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Formats
- OverDrive Read
- EPUB ebook
Languages
- English
Levels
- ATOS Level:5.5
- Lexile® Measure:900
- Interest Level:4-8(MG)
- Text Difficulty:4-5
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