Greetings from Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley
November 6, 2007 — Mary Childs
Theo has always been interested in space, especially now in 1977 when NASA will be launching the Voyager 2 space probe that will travel to Jupiter and beyond. His science teacher adds to his interest by asking each class member to come up with one thing or idea that would explain us to another space being.
His quest to come up with just the right statement leads him to try to explain some other mysteries in his life, like why his father never came home from fighting in Vietnam. Since it’s 1977, most soldiers from Vietnam should have come home unless they were POWs (prisoners of war) or MIA (missing in action). So maybe that’s the explanation! He doesn’t get any answers from his family because it’s a subject too painful for his mother to talk about. But how about his grandmother, JeeBee (Grandmother Bernadette)? Maybe she can help him out.
Readers interested in space and also readers interested in life after the Vietnam War will like this book. It’s a fast read but deep enough to help the reader feel Theo’s frustration and his mother’s sadness.
