Their parents do nothing to support the two boys.įitch’s twin sister, Bird, is a talented girl that has a huge hunger to understand how the world, and especially machines work. He’s in danger of failing seventh grade for a second time, and generally has the feeling that he isn’t good at anything. But he himself doesn’t have the talent for the game and he has to leave the school’s basketball team anyway, because of his bad grades. When the “wrong” girl falls in love with him, his nerves are tested by his constantly teasing friends, and his anger ultimately makes him say something rude to Amanda.Ĭash, the oldest sibling at 13, is a huge Dr. There’s 12 year old Fitch, who spends most of his time at the arcade and is struggling with a hot temper. While their parents are arguing all the time, the three siblings are all fighting their own battles.

Because they are already struggling with their terrible parents. These kids don’t have much of a support system. However, I expected this to be a story of a mostly carefree youth, being suddenly impacted by that fateful day in January 1986, with the characters then having to rely on their support system to get them through this difficult moment. On paper, a story of three 80’s kids navigating middle-school and dreaming of space, set against the backdrop of the Challenger disaster, sounds great. When the fated day arrives, it changes everything. Cash and Fitch take a passive interest, but Bird builds her dreams around it. Salonga-a failed applicant to the Teacher in Space program-who encourages her students to live vicariously through the launch. They have little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. The Nelson Thomas siblings exist in their own orbits, circling a tense, crowded, and unpredictable household, dreaming of escape, dreaming of the future, dreaming of space. And Bird, his twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander, but feels like she's disappearing. Fitch spends every afternoon playing Major Havoc at the arcade and wrestles with an explosive temper that he doesn't understand. J, and a girl named Penny he's also in danger of failing seventh grade for a second time.

The launch of the Challenger is just weeks away, and Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware.Ĭash loves basketball, Dr.

We dream of space