One Old, One New: What Goes Up

One Old, One New features two books - one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today, I am sharing two books titled What Goes Up, which also both happen to feature NASA in some way.

What Goes Up
Wen Jane Baragrey
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Middle Grades, Contemporary
Publisher: Random House
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

What goes up . . . comes down on Robyn Tinkerbell Goodfellow's roof! Will a rogue NASA satellite crush her house before Robyn can set things right?

Robyn Tinkerbell Goodfellow (yes, that's actually her name) has a target on her roof. Well, not a real one, but everything seems to land there: paper airplanes, lost kites, socks, cats, and once even a skydiver! In the town of Calliope, Robyn and her magnet roof are famous--for being weird. That wasn't such a big deal . . . until now!

A rogue NASA satellite is falling out of orbit and is going to hit Earth. NASA says it will probably land in the ocean, but Robyn knows better--that satellite is headed for her roof. To make matters worse, Robyn discovers that she doesn't just have a fairy middle name. When her class reads A Midsummer Night's Dream, she learns that Robin Goodfellow is a fairy! Which means if the satellite flattens her, everyone will laugh at her name in the news stories. Robyn realizes what she needs to do: find her long-lost dad so he can help her change her name and protect her from the satellite!

Both surprising and relatable, this middle-grade novel will have readers wishing they could move to the small town of Calliope, laugh with the larger-than-life characters, and race against the clock to save Robyn from NASA's mistake.

Robyn lived in a house, which she claimed had a "magnetic roof". For some reason, projectiles had a tendency to take up residence on her rooftop. Therefore, when she learned of the NASA satellite's return to Earth, she was worried it would also be attracted to her roof and most likely destroy her home. This news, along with seeing a local family filled with people who looked like her, who also had albinism, spurred Robyn to search for the father she never knew.

Robyn was such a fabulous character. It was instalove for me. I loved her voice, and the way she navigated her emotions, as well as the feelings of others. There were a few times, where she put her own interests before other people's, but she would back up, recognize it, and correct herself. I liked seeing that in an almost-12-year-old. Robyn was also determined and tenacious, and I loved her go-get-em attitude. Her need to know more about her father was never more clear, than when Robyn compared how she looked like she doesn't belong in her family, and how "other" she always felt. I know I wanted her to get some answers, because I grew to adore and care for her very much.

Robyn was really lucky to have an awesome best friend (future-husband) named Nickel. Yes, his whole family was named after coins, but that didn't hamper him from supporting Robyn when she needed him most. There were actually a few really, really heartwarming moments shared between the two. One was this heart-to-heart he had with Robyn in the later part of the book, that made me shed some really happy tears, because it was such a precious exchange, and clearly illustrated how much her friendship meant to him.

Not only did Baragrey gift Robyn with Nickel in her life, she packed the town with some fun and eccentric characters. Robyn's mom was obsessed with faeries, and even managed to make a career of it, while her grandmother carried on a friendly-ish feud with the nosy and delusional neighbor. Many other interesting denizens rounded out the cast, and it was a pleasure getting to meet them all.

Overall: A touching and heartwarming story about family, friendship, and belonging, which will make you laugh, cheer, and smile.

**ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

What Goes Up
Katie Kennedy
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Action-packed and wildly funny, this near-future sci-fi features three teens on an inter-dimensional mission to save the world.

Rosa and Eddie are among hundreds of teens applying to NASA’s mysterious Multi-World Agency. After rounds of crazy-competitive testing they are appointed to Team 3, along with an alternate, just in case Eddie screws up (as everyone expects he will). What they don’t expect is that aliens will arrive from another dimension, and look just like us. And no one could even imagine that Team 3 would be the only hope of saving our world from their Earth-destroying plans. The teens steal the spacecraft (it would be great if they knew how to fly it) and head to Earth2, where the aliens’ world and people are just like ours. With a few notable exceptions.

There, the teens will find more than their alternate selves: they'll face existential questions and high-stakes adventure, with comedy that's out of this world.

What if there was a another Earth out there, where another you lived? That was the idea behind the fictional Multi-World Agency, and they were looking for the best and the brightest to become Team 3 at the agency.   This search brought all the top teens in the nation to Iowa, where they had to battle for a spot on the team, and remain to prepare for future missions. However, with the arrival of an alien spacecraft, that mission may have come sooner than expected.

This was a really fun adventure! I found myself so engrossed by the testing portion in the beginning of the book. The challenges were really interesting and some, quite unique. The process of elimination was enthralling, but I also liked the way Kennedy took us into the minds of the recruits, and gave us a better understanding of all the reasoning and emotions involved.

The story was not only fun, it was funny. The characters often used humor and exchanged snappy and snarky banter, which kept a smile on my face. Keep an eye out for Eddie's knock-knock jokes. They were super corny, but I love the motivation behind them.

There was a third F that was a standout for me too - friendship. I guess when you are thrown into a life or death situation, you will often form bonds with those, who are there with you, but the friendship formed by Team 3 was deeper. You saw it in the little things and the big things. In the things they were willing to do and the things they were willing to risk. Examples of that were all over this book, and not only the idea of friendship, but also the idea teamwork. I love the focus on these things, and all the ways Kennedy incorporated them into this tale.

There were lots of great characters in this book, but the stars were Eddie and Rosa for me. I instantly loved them both, but for different reasons.

Eddie seemed like the outsider, like he didn't belong among this elite group. He was well equipped for each challenge, however, the shadow of his past hung over him. Eddie had a backstory, that will hit you in the feels. I loved that he achieved so much despite his past, and I was rooting for him the whole time. He wanted this. He needed this, and I needed this for him.

Rosa grew up with the scientific elite, but she always felt like she had to prove herself, because of her pedigree. It was fantastic seeing her and Eddie, people from such different circumstances, come together and become a dynamic duo. But the beauty of these two characters was not in how brilliant they were, but rather, how they suffered from the same issues as other teens: fear of failure, loneliness, the need to belong. These things gave the characters more depth, and in my opinion, made them more interesting and relatable.

As a former physics teacher, my colleagues and I always lamented how high school physics ends with discoveries from the 1930s. Therefore, I was excited to see more modern ideas, like the Many Worlds Theory, mentioned in this book. A dissertation on the theory would not be appropriate, but maybe one teen will read this story and want to learn more. You never know.

Overall: A fantastic and often-times, thrilling adventure filled with friendship, witty banter, and out of this world fun.

Do you like books with space stuff in them?

Let us know in the comments!