We Dream of Space

We Dream of Space is the seventh book by Newbery Medalist author and illustrator Erin Entrada Kelly. Published in 2020 by Greenwillow Books, the middle grade novel follows three siblings in January 1986 and centers around the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

We Dream of Space is a Newbery Honor Book, a New York Times Notable Children’s Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, and an ALA Notable Book. This guide is based on the paperback edition published on March 22nd, 2022. The narrative is written from the third-person limited perspective through which each character’s inner thoughts and feelings are expressed in their own chapters.

A Note on Content: The Challenger explosion resulted in the sudden deaths of seven people, and these deaths were witnessed by school children throughout the United States and observed live by others in person at the launch site and heard over broadcast. Additionally, Tammy and Mike Thomas, parents of the three main characters, argue extensively, and their dialogue contains strong, insulting language. Fitch struggles with violent impulses, which he ruminates over but does not act upon.

Plot Summary

Cash Nelson Thomas and his twin siblings Bird and Fitch are seventh graders at Park Middle School in Delaware in January of 1986 when their science teacher Ms. Salonga begins teaching a unit on the mission of the space shuttle Challenger, set to launch later that month. Amidst the constant tumultuous fighting between their parents, and their own personal battles as young adolescents, the siblings have drifted apart, each floating in their own orbit.

Cash, repeating seventh grade and with a newly broken wrist, grapples with what might happen to him if he is forced to repeat seventh grade yet again.

Fitch struggles with his temper and impulses, and his patience is put to the ultimate test when he feels pushed too far by a classmate with a crush and makes an irrevocable decision which impacts them both.

Bird, a bright, insightful student and compassionate young woman who dreams one day of becoming an astronaut herself, is wrapped up in the excitement of the Challenger mission only to be devastated when it ends in tragedy.

By the close of the novel, each of the Nelson Thomas siblings have learned more about themselves and each other and reconnect and strengthen their bonds amidst one of the most trying periods they have ever endured.