Cross-Curricular Study – Teach the novel in conjunction with a Science unit about physics, rockets, and space exploration.Thank you to Edelweiss+ and publisher, Greenwillow Books, for an eARC of this book. Plus, students will absolutely love Benji, Ro, and their true-to-life friendship. Such a book will be hard to pass up and the rich cross-curricular possibilities too tempting to not indulge. While many novels provide a way to collaborate with other teachers, Clues to the Universe offers a Science and Art collaboration opportunity. With its STEM and comic book connections, teachers will be able to find ways to engage a variety of student interests. This #ownvoices narrative contributes another stellar novel to the blossoming genre.Įducators will find myriad reasons to want to teach Clues to the Universe. In the end, Li’s Clues to the Universe is an impressive and important debut novel. Although fast-paced, Li tenderly addresses challenging topics and gives such explorations the space they need to uncover important truths. By alternating perspectives between Benji, who is White, and Ro, who is half-Chinese and half-White, Clues to the Universe will keep readers engaged and invested in the characters’ stories. No character is perfect, no choice is easy, and the novel’s plot adeptly reveals important lessons about what it means to be a friend, to be family, and to be true to oneself. The author also realistically portrays the challenges of middle school friendships and bullying.

Li delicately addresses the ways in which Benji and Ro cope with and overcome their grief. As their friendship transforms, their shared experience and the failures and accomplishments that come with it will lead them through their grief and bring them closer to those that love them.Ĭlues to the Universe by Christina Li is a pitch perfect middle grade novel. From there, their shared tale undergoes heartwarming twists and riveting turns.

When a folder mix-up and a Science class project pairing bring Benji and Ro together, they both promise to help each other with their respective quests: find Benji’s father and build Ro’s rocket. Still reeling from pain and grief, she sets out to continue on their mission to build a model rocket and launch it in to space. Rosalind “Ro” Ling Geraghty lost her father over a year ago. Benjamin “Benji” Burns spends most of his time drawing, thinking of ways to find his absentee father, and reading comic books, especially his favorite “Spacebound.” After his best friend moves away, though, he is left to his do his favorite hobbies on his own.

Clues to the Universe by Christina Li