Review by OHS Substitute.

This multi-generational novel is an attention-grabber in which the variety of characters make it easy for the reader to identify with both characters and plot.

This first-person narrative in the voice of teenaged Charlie is multi-faceted and easy to read. Charlie is a sky-gazer, looking for UFO’s. It begins with the eighth-grade boy studying the night sky out of his bedroom window, searching for a UFO. He had begun this search in his seventh-grade year, looking for his mother. As the plot develops, Charlie’s parents are no longer together, probably because his father is a bully. Charlie greatly misses his mother. 

The plot moves forward at a gentle pace. (Is Mom up there? She’s coming back for me.)

At school Charlie suffers teasing and bullying because his name is Charles (Charlie) Dickens and because the small group of boys enjoy bullying. Charlie uses various methods to cope with being taunted and bullied.

Most attractive about this narrative is the voice of Charlie, who recounts events and feelings from his youthful and hopeful point of view. His friendships, his wistful wonder at the beauty of a girl at school, and his relations with his father and grandmother draw the reader into the novel.

Teen readers can relate to this novel: Charlie’s longing for his mother, his efforts to get along with his father, his earnest friendship with Seth, a new kid at school, his distant awe at the beauty of Jennifer Bennett, a girl at school.

Other readers can enjoy other characters, conflict, and the space between hope and despair that this novel evokes. One feels mpathy for a friendly neighbor who is morbidly obese and has a dog for company.