Our hero, Alex, is an endearing eleven year old with a “responsibility age of 13”, an encyclopaedic knowledge of space travel, rockets and what makes them tick, and a charming naivety when it comes to adjusting to adult whims and ways around him. He is simultaneously mature for his years and rather young in terms of outlook and acceptance.

He sets off on a weekend mission to launch his home-made rocket and ends up on a journey that will take him far from home and bring aspects of home life close to him than he could have ever imagined. In the process, he discovers what happened to his long-lost father, gains a new sibling, meets a meditating monk, makes new friends, accompanies them across country, loses his beloved dog and has an accident which succeeds in bringing him unexpected fame and notoriety, as well as a growing awareness of just what family and love are really like.

This is a charming page-turner of a novel, a heart-warming glimpse into a near-teenager's thoughts, on the cusp of awareness while retaining boyish enthusiasm and innocence. It's written in the first person, with a breathless rush of conversation, especially when Alex is trying to record messages for any alien life that might just pick up his about-to-be-launched space rocket. It's poignant, funny and fresh, and perfectly suitable for older readers as well.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

"See You In The Cosmos", perhaps inevitably, reminded me of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time". Cheng does a fantastic job of expressing Alex's personality and his daily struggles through the tricky medium of audio podcast transcripts. The story was genuinely emotionally affecting and the way Alex deals with his problems (some of which he is not even fully aware of) is handled well.

It could be considered contrived that Alex manages to pull together such a group of stalwart friends on his journey, but he is so disarming and pleasant that the events of the book actually come across as being very believable.

The book tackles some difficult subjects that may inspire conversations between younger readers and their parents or family members, and may help to inspire empathy for other kids who have difficult home lives, making it a possible teaching moment in addition to a fun and sometimes scary adventure.

What a delightful book! Jack Cheng has created a vibrant, distinctive and charming voice with his character, 11 year Alex Petrowski. Obsessed with rockets, devoted to his dog Carl Sagan, named after his hero and suffering a somewhat dysfunctional family life, Alex decides to take his rocket to the Southwest High-Altitude Rocket Festival. He records incidents from his life on a special golden iPod that he wants to send into space. However, life has other plans for Alex, Carl Sagan and the people they encounter on their journeys. A witty, wise and lively book.

Amazing read. I was drawn to the beautiful cover art on the book. Then after reading the description, I was excited to find out more. I didn't want to put the book down after I started reading. It was an amazing adventure with Alex and his dog Carl Sagan. Alex met a lot of interesting characters along the way and it built a great story to tell to the future listeners of his Golden iPod.

Charming, heartbreaking and so funny, See You in the Cosmos is a warm-hearted delight. Featuring one of the most original and compelling narrators I've read for a long time, I absolutely loved this book. If you're looking for a feel-good story with tons of heart, I can thoroughly recommend this story.

This was an unexpected tale and I was unsure where the story was leading. Even after finishing it I am not sure whether I thoroughly enjoyed it or not. I liked the way it was written in the form of recorded voice messages to another race. and therefore much of the story was told in the first person perspective.
I cannot feel that I connected with the characters and in many ways the story feels at a loose end.

I loved this book. It has been widely compared to Wonder and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and it’s easy to see why - the style of the writing, the way Alex sees the world not to mention space and the immediate warmth and strength of the characters. I must admit that Carl Sagan was my particular favourite.
The book will appeal to all ages and is a fascinating insight into dysfunctional families, road trips, rocket science, mental health and pet therapy.
Highly recommended. I’m sure it will be a bestseller and hope it receives the plaudits it deserves.

This book was nice because I got to read it along with my 11 year old daughter. Both of us are avid readers and I find comfort when we read something together. I thought it was ok but I was allowing my daughter to be the one to rate this title. Well usually I cant get her nose out of a book so when she kept falling asleep or slouch over when I said it was time to read more of the book I knew it wasnt a hit with her. Best of luck

"I wonder what you’re going to think when you listen to these recordings, when you hear the sounds of a boy from planet Earth trying to be brave and a boy trying to find the truth, and a boy who loves his family and friends and his dog that he named after his hero."

An interesting middle age novel. The story is told by Alex, an 11 yr old rocket living boy, as he record himself with the intention of sending the recording into space on a rocket. The style is unique, as is Alex, who I assumed is autistic (though this is never stated). I liked a protagonist for this age who is different but special due to that uniqueness. The reader learns to never assume. A good read.

11-year-old Alex loves space. He has been recording sounds from Earth on his golden iPod, to launch into space on a rocket so that alien lifeforms can find it and hear about life on Earth. He and his dog, Carl Sagan (named after his hero), travel to the Southwest High-Altitude Rocket Festival to launch the rocket and iPad, where his journey takes an unexpected turn, landing him in Las Vegas in search of his father.

We are told the story in the form of recordings on the iPod, as Alex travels from Colorado to New Mexico to Vegas to L.A and home again, recording all kinds of things to send to his friends in space. This style of narration took a bit of getting used to but was effective and original. The feel of the book reminded me a lot of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, but with a very different storyline. The plot is quite fast-moving, and at times difficult to follow because we only get to know what Alex is able to record, but it’s a fun way to read.

I liked the range of characters. Alex is a brilliant lead, full of questions with an interesting take on the world, and I love dogs so Carl Sagan was obviously a delight. The characters they meet along the way are all interesting and – mostly – likeable, especially Terra and Zed. I didn’t like Ronnie at all to begin with but he is an important part of the story, uncovering some of the mystery behind how an 11-year-old was able to hop on a train to another state all by himself.

Although this is ultimately a children’s story, some of the content is pretty heavy and moving. I would definitely recommend it to adults as well.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Young Alex is obsessed with space, and specifically with his hero, Carl Sagan; like him, he plans to send the sounds of earth into space. To that end, he uses his his iPod to record the world around him, and unwittingly, his own life, in this touching, funny and slightly offbeat novel. It is a joy to read, and charms and inspires thought in equal measure.

Perfect for fans of Wonder and Counting by 7s.

This follows the journey of 11-year-old space-obsessed Alex Petroski, and his dog Carl Sagan, as they travel to a space camp to launch their home-made rocket. There Alex attempts to emulate his hero, the real-life astronomer Carl Sagan, and launch his golden IPod, containing all his recorded musings about life on Earth, into space.

The journey he undertakes proves a far more complicated one than just his geographical travel. Along the way the reader learns more about Alex and the world he inhabits. This understanding is broadened by the meeting of other lost souls, who prove that age and happiness are not synonymous and that love can take many forms.

I enjoyed seeing the world through the eyes of one so young. In some instances this reminded me somewhat of To Kill a Mockingbird, where the emphasis was on reading between the gaps of this young understanding. Alex did not always tell all the reader ended up learning from this story.

This is dually also what caused my discontent, whilst reading this. I found Alex quite a difficult character to penetrate. I felt such sadness for him and yet, also, found him to be quite annoying. I felt so horrible for feeling this way for one so young and so lost in the world! I could not help but feel too old to properly appreciate his perspective on the world. His constant questioning and running monologue was true to his age but sometimes ended up boring me and, thus, ended in a loss of affinity towards his character.

Alex's inner-musings was what made up much of the story, and as I could not enjoy them, I could not enjoy this read. There is a beautiful message buried in here, but this just wasn't the book for me.

This has been compared to Wonder by A.J. Palacio. But I don't think it's exactly on the same scale as Wonder. This book was incredibly cute and just heart warming. It deals with a lot of hard topics for kids but done in a way that makes it easier to understand. I believe Jack Cheng really did capture the essence of what an 11 year old boy is and how he would feel. Over all this book was well written and well researched. Well done Mr. Cheng!

See You In The Cosmos is a series of recordings made in an ipod by an 11 year old boy named Alex Petroski. It reads like an epistolary but instead of letters, we have Alex recording his travels and adventures when he goes to New Mexico to launch his rocket. At the beginning, readers have no idea why he is doing a recording and who it was intended for, since he seems to be addressing someone whenever he starts any of it. Little by little, we get to find out about Alex, his life, his dreams, his mom and his brother. His dad died when he was young so he has no idea what he was like and he's brother is about twice his age while his mom seems distant. Pretty soon, readers will realize how truly wonderful Alex is because of his outlook in life despite his circumstances. Soon we don't want the book to end because Alex despite being 11 years old, truly gets what life really is all about.
This book is geared toward middle school children but can teach middle aged adults a thing or two.

This didn't quite live up to the hype for me, but I still enjoyed this story about a young robot fanatic with a troubled and chaotic family life on a road trip. I liked the found family elements, I liked the characters, but sometimes I found the narrative style a bit much.

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It tells the story of an 11 year old boy who records voice notes with his activities on east so he can send to the outer space. I could not get over how naive but mature this kid was.

The narrative is so funny and innocent as the little boy, Alex, records his story about getting his first dog (Carl Sagan) and travelling on the train alone for the first time for the Southwest High Altitude Rocket Festival (SHARF).

At SHARF, he plans to launch his rocket (Voyager 3) and his Golden iPod filled with his voice notes into space so aliens have an idea about what life on earth is like.

Then he plans to find his father whom he had believed was dead but Ancestry.com has told him otherwise.

Jack’s storytelling skills in this book are top notch. He keeps the reader engaged and racing to finish chapters. There is a roller-coaster of emotions to be experienced but you will definitely read every single page.

Rating: 4.5/5

Favourite Quote: "Steve is a little older than Ronnie but not as old as Zed. He’s more regular height too, and he has light brown hair and a goatee except it’s not that thick yet so it’s just a kidtee..." Rotfl. Hilarious.

I enjoyed this book in parts. The story is told in a series of recordings made by 11 year old Alex on his iPod, as he travels to SHARF to launch his home made rocket into space (complete with iPod in case any aliens find it and want to know about life on earth!). It's an interesting premise and I can imagine lots of young children being obsessed with space in this way, although most would not go to the same lengths as Alex to achieve his dream!
The central character is clearly a lonely boy and it is obvious right from the start that there are major problems at home. This was the real plot of the book, his obsession could have been about anything, although the space theme provided some amusing moments.
Events move along at quite a pace, Alex meets various people along the way who help him towards his goal. Some reviewers have had a problem with this aspect of the book but children go missing all the time and many end up hundreds of miles from their homes so it doesn't seem that unbelievable to me. The fact that they were all lovely and wanted to help him may stretch credibility a little more and you would have thought that at least one would have been concerned enough to call the police but I'll let that slide, it is fiction!
My main issue was with Alex himself. This is a boy who has been fending for himself and his mother for while so you would think he'd be very streetwise and mature for his age and yet the narration at times seems to come from a much younger, extremely naive boy. I'm not sure how this works unless the the author is implying that there is some kind of underlying problem with Alex himself. He takes things very literally, doesn't seem to have any sense of danger, cries at the drop of a hat.......... I did wonder if he is supposed to be somewhere on the Autistic spectrum?
As this is a children's book, I'm not sure what they would make of some parts of it as it seems confused, unlike Curious Incident which is very clear in its message. However, it is an interesting book.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this copy.

Review Date: March 20, 2017
Link: https://goo.gl/1dcU22

Eleven-year old Alex Petroski is Jack Cheng’s charming and peculiar half-Filipino narrator for his debut novel, SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS. Alex records his multitudinous thoughts and adventures –he records everything- on his golden iPod. He dreams of launching a rocket and taking his golden iPod into space, with the same intentions as his idol Carl Sagan, who launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. So determined, Alex went to the Southwest High-Altitude Rocket Festival in New Mexico with only his dog Carl Sagan (named after his idol, of course) to tag along.

SHARF is not Alex’s last stop, though. From there, he will take a leap of faith to find a man who may be or may not be his father, who also may not be dead yet, as he believed, in Las Vegas. Alex will experience disappointments and confusions throughout the journey. He will also meet plenty of people. They were not perfect or idealistic, but they certainly made a beautiful family together.

Cheng brings a poignant debut novel with a surprisingly refreshing structure –an unusual form that may appear confusing, but actually worked wonderfully in fleshing out his characters and deliver a message of resilience.

At the beginning, I was skeptical that Alex will break my heart along the way, and that I’ll have no defenses against it. I’m glad that he did not break my heart, but he definitely hooked it. I do recommend that you grab a copy of this book.

*Thanks to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the DRC, in exchange for this unbiased review.

Written from an interesting perspective. Shows the multiple facets of people and how we are often related through seemingly random events