Mothers -- Juvenile fiction. |
Grief -- Juvenile fiction |
Memory -- Juvenile fiction. |
Moms |
Retention (Psychology) |
Available:
Library | Shelf Number | Shelf Location | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Searching... Beckwith Middle School | FIC ZHA | SCIENCE FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Dighton Public Library | J ZHA | 1:JTOWNHALL | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... New Bedford Free Public Library | J FIC ZHANG | CHILDREN FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Norton Public Library | JF ZHA | CHILDREN FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
"A heart-tugging and mind-bending exploration of time and possibility." -- School Library Journal
"A pleasure to read...full of heart and imagination." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Zhang's story is filled with real-world lessons on compassion and kindness with a sci-fi twist--a skillfully rendered framing device for exploring deeper issues of loss, longing, and acceptance." -- Publishers Weekly
"With unwavering hope and focus, and new friendships with unlikely peers, the novel is entertaining and sweet." -- Booklist
In the tradition of The Thing About Jellyfish and When You Reach Me , acclaimed author Kat Zhang offers a luminous and heartbreaking novel about a girl who is convinced that an upcoming solar eclipse will bring back her dead mother.
One of the happiest memories twelve-year-old Sophia Wallace has is of her tenth birthday. Her mother made her a cake that year--and not a cake from a boxed-mix, but from scratch. She remembers the way the frosting tasted, the way the pink sugar roses dissolved on her tongue.
This memory, and a scant few others like it, is all Sophia has of her mother, so she keeps them close. She keeps them secret, too. Because as paltry as these memories are, she shouldn't have them at all.
The truth is, Sophia Wallace's mother died when she was six years old. But that isn't how she remembers it. Not always.
Sophia has never told anyone about her unusual memories--snapshots of a past that never happened. But everything changes when Sophia's seventh grade English class gets an assignment to research solar eclipses. She becomes convinced that the upcoming solar eclipse will grant her the opportunity to make her alternate life come true, to enter a world where her mother never died.
With the help of two misfit boys, she must figure out a way to bring her mother back to her--before the opportunity is lost forever.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Sometimes our lives are not what we expect them to be. Zhang explores what it would be like to live an alternate version of our lives; one that we would wish for. Sophia has a few precious memories of her mother, including a joy-filled memory of the cake her mother made for Sophia's 10th birthday. Unfortunately, the memory can't possibly be real; her mom died when she was six. Nevertheless, Sophia holds on dearly to these remembrances of what seems like an alternate life in which her mother never died. A real event, an upcoming solar eclipse, might provide a chance to leap from one place in time to another. Sophia, along with friends D.J. and Luke, think they might be able to use the eclipse to travel to alternative lives where their tragic losses and hurts never happened. The idea of an alternate universe is popular and very appealing to the target audience for this book; tweens are looking for a way to fit in and to create a world of their choosing. Although the conclusion is not as polished as the rest of the story, the writing more than makes up for it. Zhang's prose is lyrical and the plot unique and intriguing. VERDICT A heart-tugging and mind-bending exploration of time and possibility.-Christina Paolozzi, Bonaire Elementary School, GA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Sophia remembers her mother in impossible ways, fragments of a life that never was after her mom died when she was six. But the images are so vivid that Sophia, now 12, is convinced they're real. During a group project, Sophia discovers that a boy from school has similar prophetic visions and that they share a birth date. They join forces with another classmate, whose sister died at 17, to unravel the mystical science at work during a partial eclipse and try to find a way to cross over into a parallel world. In this moving examination of life-altering moments, explored through the "what if" lens of an alternate universe, Zhang guides readers and the trio of misfit characters through the important lessons of letting go, the myth that there's a better life waiting somewhere else, and the unintended consequences of each action and reaction. Against this vivid yet otherworldly backdrop, Sophia embraces everything she's missing while taking a closer look at what she would sacrifice in the exchange for a different reality. Ultimately, Zhang's story is filled with real-world lessons on compassion and kindness with a sci-fi twist-a skillfully rendered framing device for exploring deeper issues of loss, longing, and acceptance. Ages 8-12. Agent: Emmanuelle Morgan, Stonesong. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Sophia is desperate to find a world where her impossible Memories of life with her dead mother are real, but what will she do if she gets there? Sophia, 12, lives in a small town where everyone knows each other. For a science project about the coming solar eclipse, she is partnered with DeAndre, or DJ, a smart boy whose father has run off and whose older sister drives "an indecently red car," and with Luke, an explosive boy whose sister died in a car accident. Sophia and DJ learn that they were both born on the day of the last solar eclipse in their town. They also both have Memories, experiences that feel more real than daydreams, in which they live moments from lives that are different from theirs: Sophia's mother is alive, and DJ has a loving stepfather. They set out to find where these Memories exist, and Luke joins them in the hope that he can find a world in which his dead sister is alive. Can they find their happier parallel universes? And what will happen if they do? Zhang's writing is a pleasure to read, and her resistance to tying up each character's loose ends is refreshing for readers who like to ponder. The loose ends of the parallel-universe concept, however, may not satisfy fantasy fans. The cast seems to be a largely white one with the exception of DJ and his family, who are black; that the only black dad in the book has left his family is unfortunate.Overall, a nice choice for a book club, full of heart and imagination. (Fiction. 8-12)
Booklist Review
Near the end of seventh grade, Sophia is assigned to a group project about solar eclipses with DJ (a quiet artist) and Luke (a known delinquent). When Sophia and DJ discover they were born on the same day as the last solar eclipse, they also realize they've both been experiencing inexplicable memories. For Sophia, these are vivid recollections of her mother, whose death precludes them from being possible. During their research, Sophia fixates on the theory of parallel worlds: worlds where her mother doesn't die, DJ's beloved stepdad exists, and Luke's older sister isn't killed in a car accident. Sophia convinces DJ and Luke that under the right conditions, like the upcoming eclipse, they can cross to parallel worlds where things are better. The adage about the grass being greener is hard at work in this novel, as is the possibility of parallel worlds. With unwavering hope and focus, and new friendships with unlikely peers, the novel is entertaining and sweet. A similar exploration of grief is found in Christopher Edge's The Many Worlds of Albie Bright (2017).--Fredriksen, Jeanne Copyright 2018 Booklist