Astronautical!

Written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Annick Press

978-1-77321-942-4

248 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2025 

 

In the Zephyr Galaxy a long time ago, the planet Zephyr exploded into chucks. The inhabitants were ever hopeful that the great Cynosure would fix it and reunite the Chunk Planets but a hundred years later, nothing has changed. The Zephyrians, which include everything from parrot-like beings to human-like creatures and stars with appendages, travel by vessels that look like sailing boats and ships between Chunk Planets. In fact, it's on a visit to the Star Bird store that Max and Lari's dad, Robert Cherryhair, is apprehended by Cynosure's security Foxes while the brothers are inside the store. So begins the story of Astronautical! and the boys' mission to find their father.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

With their own ship set aflame by Cynosure's Foxes, Max and Lari join twin yellow dwarf stars Dez and Ori on their ship, the Dove, intent on heading to Cynosure's hideout. But when you're travelling with twin stars one of whom rarely speak the truth and the other who believes almost everything–great lessons in fake news here–the journey is not a straightforward one. In fact, it is a drawn-out quest that takes them to different Chunk Planets, comets and more where they meet a blue supergiant star, a protostar and even a disguised black hole.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Even with obstacles thrown at them, the two boys, very different in their personalities, work together and discover that their differences are their strengths and would allow them to not only find their father but to also find a way to make things right for the Planet Zephyr.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Astronautical! is a rollicking middle-grade adventure for lovers of fantasy, astronomy, and good humour. The plot is wholly unpredictable, mostly because the characters range from human-like creatures to astronomical ones with the powers to alter their structures and abilities and interact with others. Brooklin Stormie, an artist from Peterborough, Ontario, has found an imaginative way to blend fantasy with science, merging a heroes' quest in a cosmic setting with legitimate elements of which young readers will want to learn more. (Brooklin Stormie includes extensive notes about sky-whales, black holes, star songs, and more in her appended notes called, "The Real Science (and Totally Not-Real Science) in Astronautical!") It's all very accessible, playful and captivating, and readers will never anticipate how it will end. 

Astronautical! is Brooklin Stormie's story but, as an illustrator, the artwork is what makes Astronautical! sparkle. Between weird characters and some strange abilities–though perhaps not really strange in an astronomical setting–as well as a variety of settings, from a convenience store to a desert, a planet separated into chunks, and more, Brooklin Stormie gives readers something fantastical and scientific. Quite extraordinary or, dare I say it, Astronautical!

The World Without Us

by Robin Stevenson

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-0680-1

226 pp.

Ages 12-16

February, 2015

If we jump, the world will just go on without us. (pg. 2)

The we are teens Jeremy and Melody, their world is St. Petersburg, Florida, and the where is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  But only Jeremy jumps and now Melody is left to tell the story or rather stories, the one she knows and the one everyone else believes.

Jeremy, a junior whose 13-year-old brother died two years earlier, introduces himself to the rather reclusive Melody, who has been given the unkind moniker of Death Wish after an accidental poisoning at a party.  Because of their common appreciation for Albert Camus' writing and family experiences with death–Melody's parents are activists against the death penalty–Melody and Jeremy begin to form a bond, ostensibly one based on the finality of life. As Jeremy suggests,

If things get too bad, we can always check out, right?  Like Camus said, the when and how don't matter. (pg. 59)

Somehow their discussions about last meal choices, living with differences, reincarnation, and lucid dreaming take them to the point of no return, and their lives and relationship are forever altered.

Robin Stevenson has a knack for bringing thought-provoking tales to young readers, as she has with her Record Breaker (Orca, 2013), Hummingbird Heart (Orca, 2012) and Liars and Fools (Orca, 2010).  The World Without Us too delves into issues with which young people might be dealing: grief and guilt, suicidal thoughts, friendship and love.  And all these issues have them teetering on the edge of decisions, some involving life and death.  If The World Without Us doesn't convince you how quickly and tragically these issues can escalate for young people, then you'll only see this book as a story, not the cautionary tale about the repercussions of legitimate turmoil.  Robin Stevenson reminds us in her eloquent text that the fictional can become reality in a split second and with just a slip of time or even a misstep.