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We Dream of Space
Last updated Friday, November 12, 2021
Author: Erin Entrada Kelly
Date of Publication: 2020
ISBN: 0062747304
Grade Level: 4th (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Nov. 2021
Synopsis:
Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware. In 1986, as the country waits expectantly for the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, they each struggle with their own personal anxieties. Cash, who loves basketball but has a newly broken wrist, is in danger of failing seventh grade for the second time. Fitch spends every afternoon playing Major Havoc at the arcade on Main and wrestles with an explosive temper that he doesn't understand. And Bird, his twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander, but feels like she's disappearing.
The Nelson Thomas children exist in their own orbits, circling a tense and unpredictable household, with little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. Salonga. As the launch of the Challenger approaches, Ms. Salonga gives her students a project - they are separated into spacecraft crews and must create and complete a mission. When the fated day finally arrives, it changes all of their lives and brings them together in unexpected ways.
| Note to readers: |
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This book is set in 1986, which is the year the Space Shuttle Challenger was launched. There was a malfunction accident, and the shuttle exploded soon after taking off.
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It was a terrible tragedy and all seven crew members died. One of them, Christa McAuliffe, was a social studies teacher.
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Millions of students in classrooms watched the launch on TV.
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The author has fun drawings of 1980s technology throughout the book.
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You may have heard of the author, Erin Entrada Kelly’s, book Hello, Universe, which won the Newberry Award.
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| Discussion topics for before reading: |
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Would you want to be an astronaut and travel to space? (Most missions do not fail like the Challenger!)
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Have you ever seen a movie or TV show set in space or read another book about space?
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There are three kids on the cover of the book. They’re siblings (Bird, Cash, and Fish). Do you have any siblings? What is unique about having a sibling and that relationship?
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Bird, the sister, really admires a woman who is an astronaut. Is there someone you admire and look up to as a role model?
Vocabulary:
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Resentment: being indignant at having been treated unfairly; anger, frustration toward someone or something that happened that feels unfair.
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Clutter: a collection of stuff lying around untidily; lots of stuff
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Disassemble: to take something apart (opposite of assemble)
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Three-dimensional: having length, breadth, and depth (an object that has shape vs. a flat drawing, which is two-dimensional)
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| Discussion topics for during/after reading: |
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Fitch likes to play pinball. Do you know what pinball is? The story is set in the 1980s. How have games changed since then?
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Bird feels like an outsider floating in space. What is she interested in to occupy herself and distract her? What is she distracting herself from? What do you do when you need to distract yourself from something difficult going on?
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Cash likes to play basketball, but does he really enjoy it? How does he seem to feel about himself compared to his friends?
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The story is told by three different characters who narrate different chapters. Can you tell who’s speaking in the different ones as you listen? How are these three siblings each unique in their personalities?
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The novel starts on the first day of 1986. Do you make new year’s resolutions? Do you feel different when you wake up on the first day of the year, January 1st?
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| Craft ideas: |
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Normally at the November reading clubs we give an item with a college logo to each kid. This November have the kids create their own college logos based on the college logo you volunteer(s) share on something you are wearing or otherwise display on Zoom.
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Bird draws machines and technology from the 80s in the book. Draw something that’s a piece of technology from now. Share it?
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Write a letter to someone you admire the way Bird admires the astronaut. (Go over how to address an envelope so they can send it.)
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*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions.
You can use them, but you don't have to use them.
You can expand upon them, or add your own twist.
Remember, though, that the focus of your time should
not be on the development and execution of a craft;
the focus should be on the read-aloud and the
enjoyment of the book!
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