biblioemily's review
4.0
*ARC provided by Penguin Random House via Baker & Taylor ARC program* 3.5 stars. I found Ebony Grace to be a pretty unlikable main character. I just wanted her to snap out of it and fall in line with the other girls in the story. At the same time, kids should hang onto their passions, even if they aren't the same as their peers. Though I didn't love E-Grace, I was rooting for her to figure out a way to honor her love of space and make some friends her own age. I also wish we found out what the grandfather's issues/situation was, though it means we have the same amount of information as E-Grace herself.
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Bullying, Infidelity, and Violence
dpearson5257's review against another edition
Soft DNF for now, not really in the mind set to continue this story, lots of space talk and haven’t really gotten to the part of the story that grips me.
ashleyunabridged's review
4.0
In this middle grade novel, we discover Ebony-Grace who is a young girl going through a difficult situation with separated parents, and she finds comfort and solace in her passion for space exploration. She idolizes her grandfather, who worked for NASA in a pioneering position and who understands Ebony-Grace in a way that no one else can. Suddenly forced to spend a summer (and potentially longer) with her father in New York, Ebony-Grace finds herself in a new world that is very different from her previous life in the south. She struggles to navigate friend dynamics and has tremendous difficulty transitioning from the comfort of her imagination to the difficult reality of the world around her. Despite her challenges, Ebony-Grace has some profound moments of triumph and of self-discovery that make this a fascinating read.
sc104906's review
2.0
Find my original review on my blog: https://wp.me/p8jcuj-20m
Ebony-Grace lives with her mother and grandfather in Alabama, occasionally seeing her father in Harlem over the summers. However, when something begins happening with her grandfather, Ebony-Grace's mother becomes too overwhelmed with that situation and sends her to stay with her father in New York City for a little while. Ebony-Grace has a hard time staying rooted in reality. Both she and her grandfather opened their imagination locations and had imaginary quests throughout time and space, like those from Star Trek. Ebony-Grace hopes to pick up her space adventures with her childhood friend Bianca Pluto, when she gets to No Joke City, New York. However, Bianca has put aside the silly space adventures and is growing up. She has joined a crew of break dancing double dutchers, who cannot understand Ebony Grade at all. Ebony-Grace is determined to save Bianca from the minions, but does Bianca really want to be saved? Will E-Grace be able to survive with her imagination location wide open, or will she need to check back into reality?
E-Grace is a special snowflake. She is super weird and I can totally understand why Bianca and her friends react the way they do. While I feel this way, I know that there are many readers out there who will connect with this character. I liked the integration of graphic novel panels within the narrative text. This novel takes on more recent history, the 1980s. This novel was difficult for me to read because I didn't like the main character, but I will certainly offer this to readers and know that many will enjoy it.
Ebony-Grace lives with her mother and grandfather in Alabama, occasionally seeing her father in Harlem over the summers. However, when something begins happening with her grandfather, Ebony-Grace's mother becomes too overwhelmed with that situation and sends her to stay with her father in New York City for a little while. Ebony-Grace has a hard time staying rooted in reality. Both she and her grandfather opened their imagination locations and had imaginary quests throughout time and space, like those from Star Trek. Ebony-Grace hopes to pick up her space adventures with her childhood friend Bianca Pluto, when she gets to No Joke City, New York. However, Bianca has put aside the silly space adventures and is growing up. She has joined a crew of break dancing double dutchers, who cannot understand Ebony Grade at all. Ebony-Grace is determined to save Bianca from the minions, but does Bianca really want to be saved? Will E-Grace be able to survive with her imagination location wide open, or will she need to check back into reality?
E-Grace is a special snowflake. She is super weird and I can totally understand why Bianca and her friends react the way they do. While I feel this way, I know that there are many readers out there who will connect with this character. I liked the integration of graphic novel panels within the narrative text. This novel takes on more recent history, the 1980s. This novel was difficult for me to read because I didn't like the main character, but I will certainly offer this to readers and know that many will enjoy it.
lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
4.0
When I first started this book I thought I'd hate it, that I thought I too would give up 10 pages in like other reviewers sans 1 star review. I stuck with it and I ended up loving it quite a bit.
You get the sense that Ebony Grace is on the spectrum (or neuroatypical) and using her imagination to cope with being sent to live with her father on a visit that seems to have no end in sight. New York City is "No Joke City" and her former playmate is no longer interested in kids games. Ebony Grace imagines herself as part of the crew of the Enterprise coming to a new world, her imagination so complete that readers seem to flee during the beginning of this novel, when Ebony Grace lets very little of the real world seem, well, real.
When she does try to conform she parrots the less savory moralizing and classism of her mother, thus alienating her more when the people around her react negatively. It's almost like she has to train herself to conform and sees it as a very "no joke" business. She keeps trying to return to familiarity, to her grandfather and mother, and keeps getting cryptic answers from the adults about when exactly she'll be able to return home.
I ended up feeling a lot of compassion for Ebony Grace because a likely neurodivergent/neurotypical girl put into an uncertain situation with very few answers and who struggles to act "regular" (her name for it) like everyone around her wants her to act isn't an easy path. Her best friend in both imagination and life is the grandfather she keeps being told not to contact. Definitely a major failure on the part of the adults in her life.
You get the sense that Ebony Grace is on the spectrum (or neuroatypical) and using her imagination to cope with being sent to live with her father on a visit that seems to have no end in sight. New York City is "No Joke City" and her former playmate is no longer interested in kids games. Ebony Grace imagines herself as part of the crew of the Enterprise coming to a new world, her imagination so complete that readers seem to flee during the beginning of this novel, when Ebony Grace lets very little of the real world seem, well, real.
When she does try to conform she parrots the less savory moralizing and classism of her mother, thus alienating her more when the people around her react negatively. It's almost like she has to train herself to conform and sees it as a very "no joke" business. She keeps trying to return to familiarity, to her grandfather and mother, and keeps getting cryptic answers from the adults about when exactly she'll be able to return home.
I ended up feeling a lot of compassion for Ebony Grace because a likely neurodivergent/neurotypical girl put into an uncertain situation with very few answers and who struggles to act "regular" (her name for it) like everyone around her wants her to act isn't an easy path. Her best friend in both imagination and life is the grandfather she keeps being told not to contact
Spoiler
and who ultimately dies without her ever being told he was ill. The money he sends Ebony Grace's father to buy plane tickets for a last visit ended up being used as prize money for a block partybitterseason's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
kjurewicz's review
5.0
I would give this book between 4.5 and 5 stars. I loved the writing style, especially the inclusion of comics to emphasize the imagined world of the story(in fact, I wish there was more of it - such a unique touch that enhanced the writing!) I LOVED Ebony-Grace; she was such a well-developed, lovable character. I cheered for her when things went well and was heartbroken by all of the challenges that she faced with her family and peers. Although there were some loose ends and unexplained elements, overall I thought it was a wonderful book. It touched on some very important themes and although it wasn’t a “happy book,” I think it’s another reason it was so special.
Side Note (not part of official review): Before reading this book, I read another book by this author titled Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler. It was really cool to see parallels in the writing style, as well as to see how Zoboi was so heavily influenced by Butler, especially in writing about similar subject matter (afrofuturism) and were heavily influenced by their time periods (1980s and 1950s, respectively). Highly recommend if you are interested in science-fiction by black authors.
Side Note (not part of official review): Before reading this book, I read another book by this author titled Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler. It was really cool to see parallels in the writing style, as well as to see how Zoboi was so heavily influenced by Butler, especially in writing about similar subject matter (afrofuturism) and were heavily influenced by their time periods (1980s and 1950s, respectively). Highly recommend if you are interested in science-fiction by black authors.
sab_rose's review
5.0
What a treat! I love it when authors narrate their own books <3
This book definitely touches on more mature themes but it is not out of the scope of what a child would think and possibly experience.
Awesome mixture of Sci-Fi and Coming of Age.
Would recommend to older middle grade readers.
This book definitely touches on more mature themes but it is not out of the scope of what a child would think and possibly experience.
Awesome mixture of Sci-Fi and Coming of Age.
Would recommend to older middle grade readers.