Fiction
SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS
by Jack Cheng
Description
A space-obsessed boy and his dog, Carl Sagan, take a journey toward family, love, hope, and awe in this funny and moving novel for fans of Counting by 7s, Walk Two Moons, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan—named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas to L.A., Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on earth, his earth, is like. But his destination keeps changing. And the funny, lost, remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he’ll uncover—from the truth about his long-dead dad to the fact that, for a kid with a troubled mom and a mostly not-around brother, he has way more family than he ever knew.
Jack Cheng’s debut is full of joy, optimism, determination, and unbelievable heart. To read the first page is to fall in love with Alex and his view of our big, beautiful, complicated world. To read the last is to know he and his story will stay with you a long, long time.
More Information
Rights Information
UK & Commonwealth: Penguin/Puffin
Translation rights sold in twenty-three languages:
ARABIC: HBKU Press
BULGARIAN: Prozoretz
CATALAN: Grup 62/Planeta
CHINESE (complex): Commonwealth
CHINESE (simplified): Jieli
DUTCH: Karakter
FINNISH: Aula & Co.
FRENCH: Bayard
GERMAN: CBT/Random House
GREEK: Metaichmio
HEBREW: Modan
ITALIAN: Bompiani
KOREAN: Munhakdongne
POLISH: Foksal
PORTUGUESE (Brazil): Intrinseca
PORTUGUESE (world excl Brazil): Objectiva/Penguin Random House
ROMANIAN: Corint
SERBIAN: Dereta Doo
SLOVENIAN: Mladinska
SPANISH: Nube de Tinta/Penguin Random House
THAI: Amarin
TURKISH: Pegasus
VIETNAMESE: Tre
Film/tv rights: under option
Marketing Information
Winner of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Golden Kite Award (2018)
Winner of Audie Award for Best Middle Grade Audiobook (2018)
Winner of a Great Lakes Book Award (2017)
Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist (2017)
A Junior Library Guild Selection (2017)
Amazon.com Editors’ Picks for Top 20 Children’s Books (2017)
Endorsements
Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe “I haven't read anything that has moved me this much since Wonder...The very best books are rare and powerful magic, as if they were conjured by the stars. SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS is one of these. Hero Alex Petroski is eleven years old, in search of himself and the universe. His extraordinary journey is relatable and timeless, and I wanted to stay forever in this funny, wise, beautiful world.”
Gary D. Schmidt, author of National Book Award finalist Okay for Now “It is not always that we read a novel that so powerfully affirms our human capacity for grace and love and understanding; we need this book for the ways in which it gives us more to be human beings with. And it gives us Alex, whose face is turned to the stars.”
Holly Goldberg Sloan, bestselling author of Counting by 7s “I love this book—the characters, the story, but most of all, the voice that writer Jack Cheng has created. It’s the best I've read in a long, long, long time.”
Ally Condie, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Matched and Summerlost "Alex Petroski has a big mind, big dreams, and a big heart. His story is full of the real kind of magic—friends well-met, surprising journeys, and heartbreak and hope. This is a beautiful book."
Paul Griffin, author of New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice When Friendship Followed Me Home “This book is a gift—a miracle. Alex fights with all of his magnificent, compassionate heart to remind us that we humans are first, last, and always creatures of hope. Jack Cheng is as brilliant as his debut, and more than that, he is wise. His novel made me want to be a better person.”
Emily Drabble, BookTrust “Falling in love with a new book: the very beautiful See You in the Cosmos…this is something special”
Reviews
Natalie Standiford, New York Times Book Review “In Alex, Cheng has created an endearing and believable character, a sweet spirit, loving and forgiving . . . Alex’s voice stayed with me.”
Christian Science Monitor “The distinct voice of this young science whiz and the cast of characters. . . make this unique novel’s journey one totally worth taking.”
Entertainment Weekly “Cheng has a knack for creating unique characters that stay with the reader long after the story has moved on...Cheng’s choice to structure the novel as transcripts of his recordings — which are meant to teach aliens about life on Earth — is a stellar introduction to his precocious protagonist’s point of view.”
Daily Telegraph “Cheng has captured a view of the cosmos through a child’s eyes, and that is the book’s real pleasure”
Daily Mail “This is a touching debut, with a clever narrative device and a deeply affecting hero.”
Publisher’s Weekly (starred) “Poignant and funny . . . propulsive . . . Alex’s strong voice drives this compelling personal journey with resonant themes of family, friendship, and resilience.”
Kirkus (starred) “Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure...Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.”
Bookseller (UK) “A big fiction debut for Puffin…Moving and hopeful, it’s an unmissable adventure.”
Financial Times “The narration is a delight, swerving from space jokes and naivety to childlike wisdom.”
Author Biography
Jack Cheng was born in Shanghai, raised in Michigan, and lived in Brooklyn for a decade before settling in Detroit. Jack volunteers with 826michigan on in-class writing projects in Detroit public schools. He is a 2019 Kresge Artist Fellow. See You in the Cosmos, his first novel for young readers, won the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Golden Kite Award (2018) and a Great Lakes Book Award (2017), and is translated into twenty-three languages.
Jack Cheng's website: https://jackcheng.com/
Craig Literary
Craig Literary, founded by Jessica Craig in 2016, is a full-service literary agency representing diverse writers of fiction, non-fiction, and children's books. The agency grows out of Jessica Craig's 20+ years of experience as a top foreign rights agent and on her record as an effective international champion of high quality authors, from established names to outstanding debuts, and across genres in fiction and non-fiction.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher/Imprint Penguin Random House / Dial Books for Young Readers
- Publication Date February 2017
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 9780399186370
- FormatHardback
- Primary Price 17.99 USD
- Pages320
- ReadershipTeenage/Young Adult
- Publish StatusPublished
- Copyright Year2017
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