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Get ready for some out-of-this-world fun as we welcome author Joshua Levy 

to the blog to talk about his new book Seventh Grade vs. The Galaxy

out this month from Carolrhoda Books

What it’s about:  PSS 118 is just your typical school except that it’s a rickety old spaceship orbiting Jupiter. When the school is mysteriously attacked, thirteen-year-old Jack receives a cryptic message from his father (the school’s recently-fired-for-tinkering-with-the-ship science teacher). Amidst the chaos, Jack discovers that his dad has built humanity’s first light-speed engine and given Jack control of it. To save the ship, Jack catapults it hundreds of light-years away and right into the clutches of the first aliens humans have ever seen. School hasn’t just gotten out: it’s gone clear across the galaxy. And now it’s up to Jack and his friends to get everyone home.

Thanks for joining us today, Josh. Your book looks SO cool! Can you tell us how you came up with this idea? 

Thanks! And of course! I’m a lawyer now—but I was a middle school teacher for a little while before law school. And the genesis of the idea for SEVENTH GRADE VS. THE GALAXY (kids who attend “public school spaceships”) was simply me wanting to create something that I think my students would have enjoyed—and that I know I would have enjoyed—when I was middle school.

Have you always loved space/space exploration?

Oh my gosh, yes.

On the fictional side, as a kid, I devoured every Star Wars novel there was. (I don’t think this is an exaggeration. Every. Single. One.) I know that Star Wars isn’t “science fiction.” It’s fantasy. But still: There’s something so compelling about the way space is portrayed in the series. There’s so much wonder there.

On the non-fictional side, I grew up in Florida and got to watch a few space shuttle launches from afar, when the program was still up and running. And I’ve never tired of watching clips of NASA control centers cheering when a launch (or a landing) goes well. We’re still so excited about the prospect of exploring what’s out there. And we’ve barely scratched the surface of our solar system, let alone what’s beyond it.

I know your book is fiction, but did you do any research for this book? 

So, a lot of the “science” in the book is more of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy variety. Meaning, SEVENTH GRADE VS. THE GALAXY is meant to be fun and funny and exciting—not necessarily the most accurate portrayal of space exploration. How does the ship ultimately move about the galaxy? I’ll channel Doctor Who here and just answer: “Timey wimey.”

But that isn’t to say I didn’t do any research. Thinking about which planets/moons in our solar system are likely to be inhabited one day. Plotting out real distances and time needed to travel (even if I consciously discarded the reality of it, sometimes). Mapping out just how much square-footage would be required to house about 100 kids and their teachers on a rundown spaceship.

Lemme put it this way: I wouldn’t call the science grounded. Nor would I call it all groundless. (And I’m forever grateful for the Hayden Planetarium’s…astronomy hotline? I’ve called them a handful of times over the last few years. They. Are. Awesome.)

Tell us a little about the story and how your characters evolved. They seem so funny and real.

The story centers around Jacksonville “Jack” Graham, Beckenham “Becka” Pierce, and Arizona “Ari” Bowman, three seventh graders onboard the Public School Spaceship (“PSS”) 118. When the PSS 118 is attacked by aliens and the school finds itself light-years away from home, Jack, Becka, and Ari play a crucial role in the fight to get home.

I’m so grateful for your comment that they seem “so funny and real.” It means a lot to me that these three middle schoolers (and the other kids onboard the 118) come across as genuine. Seventh graders are so funny and real. And I hope that readers will follow these characters’ journey and think: Yeah, that’s exactly how a 12- or 13-year-old kid would react.

What’s next for the kids of the PSS 118?

Oooh. No spoilers! But let’s just say that their mission’s not over. Not yet.

Thank you so much!

We are happy you stopped by and even more so since Joshua is offering a FREE copy of his new book as a giveaway to one lucky person. Just comment below and you will be entered. Let’s make this interesting, to enter for the giveaway, leave a comment describing one thing that you would love about going to school in space? For me it would be (of course) the science angle. I would LOVE to float around and feel weightless.

Do you ever have that panicky feeling when you don’t know what to read next? You know what I’m talking about, right? It’s very unpleasant, sort of like sand in a contact lens.

My solution for those moments is book award lists – the National Book Award, the Newbery, the Caldecott, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Booker, the Hugo, the Nebula, the Pulitzer. I could go on for days but you get the idea. Turning to the nominees and winners for these prizes is a quick way to stock that To Be Read pile with quality choices.

Which brings me to the Edgars, the prestigious award handed out each April by the Mystery Writers of America. I love mystery!  And this year the nominees for Best Juvenile served up seven titles I had not encountered before. They are now pleasingly stacked on my bedside table which means I can relax.

Maybe you will want to check them out, too.

Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott (HarperCollins Children’s Books – Katherine Tegen Books)

Denis Egan is dead.

He’s okay with that. It’s been five years since he died, and the place where souls go is actually pretty nice. Sure, there are some things about his life and how it ended he can’t quite recall, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. Remembering could prevent Denis from moving on to whatever’s next.

However, something is standing in his way. His twin brother Matt can’t let go of him, and as long as the living are holding on to his memory, Denis can’t rest in peace.

To uncover the truth about what happened that day five years before, Denis returns to his hometown and teams up with Matt. But visiting for too long has painful consequences for Denis, and Matt’s renewed interest in his brother’s passing is driving a wedge between his still-grieving parents.

Can the two boys solve the mystery of Denis’s death without breaking apart the family he’s left behind?

Zap! by Martha Freeman (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)

Luis Cardenal is toasting a Pop-Tart when a power outage strikes Hampton, New Jersey. Elevators and gas pumps fail right away; soon cell phones die and grocery shelves empty. Cold and in the dark, people begin to get desperate.

Luis likes to know how things work, and the blackout gets him wondering: Where does the city’s electricity come from? What would cause it to shut down?

No one seems to have answers, and rumors are flying. Then a slip of the tongue gives Luis and his ex best friend Maura a clue. Brushed off by the busy police, the two sixth graders determine they are on their own. To get to the bottom of the mystery, they know they need to brave the abandoned houses of Luis’s poor neighborhood and find the homeless teen legend known as Computer Genius. What they don’t know is that someone suspects they know too much, someone who wants to keep Hampton in the dark.

In this electrifying mystery, two can-do sleuths embark on a high-tech urban adventure to answer an age-old question: Who turned out the lights?

Ra the Mighty: Cat Detective by A.B. Greenfield (Holiday House)

Can a lazy cat and a dung-obsessed beetle really crack a mystery? Ra relishes his role as the Pharaoh’s beloved—and spoiled—cat. So when an amulet goes missing from the palace, Ra plans to keep enjoying his snacks and nap in the sun. But Ra’s friend Khepri, a wise and industrious scarab beetle, insists on investigating in order to save the young servant girl who has been framed for the crime.

Once Ra gets going, he decides that being a Great Detective isn’t so bad; in fact, he doesn’t mind being hailed as “Protector of the Weak and Defender of Justice.” The comically mismatched duo is on the case!

Winterhouse by Ben Guterson (Christy Ottaviano Books – Henry Holt BFYR)

Orphan Elizabeth Somers’s malevolent aunt and uncle ship her off to the ominous Winterhouse Hotel, owned by the peculiar Norbridge Falls. Upon arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that Winterhouse has many charms—most notably its massive library. It’s not long before she locates a magical book of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge and his sinister family. But the deeper she delves into the hotel’s secrets, the more Elizabeth starts to realize that she is somehow connected to Winterhouse. As fate would have it, Elizabeth is the only person who can break the hotel’s curse and solve the mystery. But will it be at the cost of losing the people she has come to car for, and even Winterhouse itself?

Mystery, adventure, and beautiful writing combine in this exciting debut richly set in a hotel full of secrets.

Otherwood by Pete Hautman (Candlewick Press)

“Hatred combined with lies and secrets can break the world.” Grandpa Zach used to say that before he died, but Stuey never really knew what he meant. It was kind of like how he used to talk about quantum physics or how he used to say ghosts haunted their overgrown golf course. But then one day, after Stuey and his best friend, Elly Rose, spend countless afternoons in the deadfall in the middle of the woods, something totally unbelievable happens. As Stuey and Elly Rose struggle to come to grips with their lives after that reality-splitting moment, all the things Grandpa Zach used to say start to make a lot more sense. This is a book about memory and loss and the destructive nature of secrets, but also about the way friendship, truth, and perseverance have the ability to knit a torn-apart world back together.

Charlie & Frog: A Mystery by Karen Kane (Disney Publishing Worldwide – Disney Hyperion)

All Charlie Tickler wants is for his parents to listen.

Charlie’s parents have left him (again). This time they are off to South Africa to help giant golden moles. And Charlie? He’s been dumped with his TV-obsessed grandparents. Lonely and curious, Charlie heads into the village of Castle-on-the-Hudson, where a frightened old woman gives him a desperate message-in sign language. When she suddenly disappears, Charlie is determined to find answers.

All Francine (aka Frog) Castle wants is to be the world’s greatest detective.

Frog, who is Deaf, would rather be solving crimes than working at the Flying Hands Cafe . When Charlie Tickler walks into the cafe looking for help, Frog jumps at the chance to tackle a real-life case.
Together, Charlie and Frog set out to decipher a series of clues and uncover the truth behind the missing woman’s mysterious message. Charlie needs to learn American Sign Language (fast) to keep up with quick-witted Frog. And Frog needs to gather her detective know-how (now) to break the case before it’s too late.

Discover the surprising ways people listen in debut author Karen Kane’s page-turning mystery filled with humor, intrigue, and heartwarming friendships.

Zora & Me: The Cursed Ground by T.R. Simon (Candlewick Press)

When Zora Neale Hurston and her best friend, Carrie Brown, discover that the town mute can speak after all, they think they’ve uncovered a big secret. But Mr. Polk’s silence is just one piece of a larger puzzle that stretches back half a century to the tragic story of an enslaved girl named Lucia. As Zora’s curiosity leads a reluctant Carrie deeper into the mystery, the story unfolds through alternating narratives. Lucia’s struggle for freedom resonates through the years, threatening the future of America’s first incorporated black township — the hometown of author Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960). In a riveting coming-of-age tale, award-winning author T. R. Simon champions the strength of a people to stand up for justice.