Grace Needs Space!

February 1, 2023

Gr 4-7-Twelve-year-old Grace lives on a space station with her mom Evelyn (Mom), who is the chief engineer; her other mom, Kendra (Ba), is a freighter captain whom Grace hasn't seen for nearly a year. Grace is wildly excited to travel with Ba, but their trip doesn't go as planned. At home, Mom expects Grace to be responsible for chores, but on the ship, Kendra doesn't trust Grace to help with anything and spends most of her time working. On Titan, Grace is awed by gravity, tall trees, and local kids, but while Ba deals with a work problem, Grace grows frustrated and takes an unauthorized field trip, leading to a fight. On the way back to the station, there is a problem with Ba's ship, and Grace calls Mom for help. The flow of the panels makes the action easy to follow, and the characters' expressions and body language are crystal clear; for example, when Ba says "plenty's changed" since the last time Grace was on the ship, oblivious to Grace's feelings, Grace's skeptical eyebrows and half-lidded eyes speak volumes. Grace and Mom have brown skin and dark hair; Ba has light skin, green eyes, and red hair. VERDICT The sci-fi setting creates high stakes for this realistic story of a tween ready for adventure, navigating her relationships with separated parents. Highly recommended; give to fans of Molly Brooks's "Sanity & Tallulah."-Jenny Arch

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 6, 2023
A 12-year-old discovers that even navigating the vastness of space is not as complicated as maneuvering conflicts surrounding family and friendship in this lushly illustrated adventure graphic novel. Grace, a child of divorced parents, is excited to spend time away from her mother, the chief engineer on Genova Station, with her other mother, Ba, a freighter captain who frequently travels to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. While Grace was expecting to embark on epic adventures with Ba, she finds, instead, that Ba is too busy working to pay her any mind, much like Mom back on Genova. Grace soon befriends a group of students while exploring Titan and accompanies them on educational field trips, but when an incident results in her being left behind during an excursion, she feels as if she’s drifting even further from her parents. Through touching and natural-feeling dialogue, portrayed via saturated, full-color illustrations, Wilgus (Chronin) and Abrego (Sprite and the Gardener) skillfully highlight the enormity of the interstellar setting alongside Grace’s intimate personal realizations. Though the story takes place among the cosmos, the earthly truths surrounding love and connection proves artfully rendered. Grace and Mom are depicted with brown skin; Ba has pale skin. Ages 8–12. Agent: Eddie Schneider, JABberwocky Literary.

Starred review from February 1, 2023
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* Grace lives on a space station with her mom, the chief engineer, while her ba, Kendra, is a cargo ship captain who makes a living hauling freight around space. Ba has a work trip planned to Titan, and Grace is thrilled to have a chance to have her feet on solid ground for a change. But while Titan, with its buildings, gravity, large parks, and lakes, is fascinating, Grace is frustrated when Ba's too busy to see the sights. When Grace finds a way to see Kraken Mare on her own, she gets in deep trouble--but more trouble arises when their ship malfunctions on the way home and Ba won't listen to Grace's advice. Wilgus (The Mars Challenge, 2020) is no stranger to space science, and high-concept ideas about long-term space habitation are seamlessly interwoven into the story. Alongside appealingly varied and expressive character designs, Abrego renders the settings beautifully, making great use of the unusual architecture of space stations and shuttles; the contrast between the lived-in familiarity of those spaces and the vast expanses of space and the alien landscapes of Titan is particularly striking. At its heart, this is a classic middle-grade plot of a kid frustrated by being underestimated by a parent, but the space setting makes it a genuine thrill. Perfect for kids who loved Jennifer L. Holm's Lion of Mars (2021).

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