Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Dutton Children's Books
Pages
250
Description
Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. Science Fiction. HTML:National Book Award-finalist Ibi Zoboi makes her middle-grade debut with a moving story of a girl finding her place in a world that's changing at warp speed. Twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet has lived with her beloved grandfather Jeremiah in Huntsville, Alabama ever since she was little. As one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA, Jeremiah has nurtured Ebony-Grace�??s love for all things outer space and science fiction�??especially Star Wars and Star Trek. But in the summer of 1984, when trouble arises with Jeremiah, it�??s decided she�??ll spend a few weeks with her father in Harlem. Harlem is an exciting and terrifying place for a sheltered girl from Hunstville, and Ebony-Grace�??s first instinct is to retreat into her imagination. But soon 126th Street begins to reveal that it has more in common with her beloved sci-fi adventures than she ever thought possible, and by summer's end, Ebony-Grace discovers that Harlem has a place for a girl whose eyes are always on the stars. A New York Times… (more)
Description
In the summer of 1984, 12-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet makes the trip from Huntsville, Alabama, to Harlem, where she'll spend a few weeks with her father while her mother deals with some trouble that's arisen for Ebony-Grace's beloved grandfather, Jeremiah. Jeremiah Norfleet is a bit of a celebrity in Huntsville, where he was one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA two decades earlier. And ever since his granddaughter came to live with him when she was little, he's nurtured her love of all things outer space and science fiction--especially Star Wars and Star Trek, both of which she's watched dozens of time on Grandaddady's Betamax machine. So even as Ebony-Grace struggled to make friends among her peers, she could always rely on her grandfather and the imaginary worlds they created together. In Harlem, however, she faces a whole new challenge. Harlem in 1984 is an exciting and terrifying place for a sheltered girl from Hunstville, and her first instinct is to retreat into her imagination. But soon 126th Street begins to reveal that it has more in common with her beloved sci-fi adventures than she ever thought possible, and by summer's end, Ebony-Grace discovers that gritty and graffitied Harlem has a place for a girl whose eyes are always on the stars.
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
250 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
0399187359 / 9780399187353
Similar in this library
Lexile
830L
User reviews
LibraryThing member foggidawn
Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, Ebony-Grace Norfleet Freeman is obsessed with Star Trek, Star Wars, and all things related to space travel. She and her grandfather, who works at Marshall Space Center, have wonderful imaginary adventures. But now something has happened to her grandfather, and she
This book didn’t entirely work for me. I was left with too many questions, particularly about what was going on with Ebony-Grace’s grandfather. I realize that she doesn’t understand what’s happening, and the reader is limited to that perspective, but there’s insufficient resolution. I didn’t love any of the characters. So, while I think the topic is interesting and important, I can’t see myself recommending it widely.
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has been sent to Harlem, in what she’s dubbed No Joke City, to stay with her father. She dislikes everything about the city: the noise, the mess, the kids who are interested in breakdancing and rap, and not in space or anything else she likes. Will she have to change in order to fit in? And how long will she have to stay?This book didn’t entirely work for me. I was left with too many questions, particularly about what was going on with Ebony-Grace’s grandfather. I realize that she doesn’t understand what’s happening, and the reader is limited to that perspective, but there’s insufficient resolution. I didn’t love any of the characters. So, while I think the topic is interesting and important, I can’t see myself recommending it widely.
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LibraryThing member bell7
Ebony-Grace Norfleet Freeman has to temporarily stay with her father in Harlem, while her mother back in Alabama is caring for her Granddaddy. She doesn't adjust well, wanting to go back home, keeping in her head and carrying on the imaginings her and her Granddaddy would have of Captain Fleet and
Despite also being a giant nerd with an imagination, I had a tough time with Ebony-Grace's story. Supposedly twelve, she reads much younger as she imagines her father as "King Sirius Julius" in No Joke City, keeping her prisoner and not allowing her to rescue her grandfather (from what, we really never find out). I wondered if she were on the spectrum, but that's never really explored. And while I could see it for the church scene, the emphasis on her wearing "boy clothes" because she preferred t-shirts to dresses seemed a little odd for 1984. Ebony's "growth" at the end is really sudden and mainly seems to be about shutting off her imagination to live in the real world in a heavy-handed way after the adults (and a bunch of the kids that Ebony doesn't want to play with) spend much of the book telling her to stop messing around. It was a weird sort of duality both celebrating nerdy sci-fi culture and tamping down on it at the same time.
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E-Grace Starfleet, which the kids in the neighborhood aren't having. It's 1984, and they're much more into break dancing and hip hop, things Ebony-Grace can't wrap her head around.Despite also being a giant nerd with an imagination, I had a tough time with Ebony-Grace's story. Supposedly twelve, she reads much younger as she imagines her father as "King Sirius Julius" in No Joke City, keeping her prisoner and not allowing her to rescue her grandfather (from what, we really never find out). I wondered if she were on the spectrum, but that's never really explored. And while I could see it for the church scene, the emphasis on her wearing "boy clothes" because she preferred t-shirts to dresses seemed a little odd for 1984. Ebony's "growth" at the end is really sudden and mainly seems to be about shutting off her imagination to live in the real world in a heavy-handed way after the adults (and a bunch of the kids that Ebony doesn't want to play with) spend much of the book telling her to stop messing around. It was a weird sort of duality both celebrating nerdy sci-fi culture and tamping down on it at the same time.
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LibraryThing member ewyatt
Ebony-Grace is sent to stay with her dad in Harlem because there is something going on with her beloved Grandfather. It is never really clear what the incident is a scandal or an illness? He is successful, working at NASA. Ebony-Grace has a special relationship with him and they share a great love
She doesn't click with the girls she meets in Harlem in the mid-1980s.
There are some graphics and comic panels sprinkled throughout the book.
There was a lot going on in the book, and I could see what it was trying to accomplish. It just feel a bit short in places for me.
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of space and imagination. She doesn't click with the girls she meets in Harlem in the mid-1980s.
There are some graphics and comic panels sprinkled throughout the book.
There was a lot going on in the book, and I could see what it was trying to accomplish. It just feel a bit short in places for me.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
diverse children's middlegrade fiction (13 y.o. black science fiction fan trying to make friends in 1980s Harlem)
reviewed from ARC.
I pushed through to page 108, but couldn't really connect with Ebony (E-Grace), who seemed to be pretty old to still be living in her imagination. I still didn't really
resumably at some point she lets down her barriers and makes friends, and also finds out what's happening with her grandpa. I wanted to like this, but am not sure it will appeal to a very broad audience.
reviewed from ARC.
I pushed through to page 108, but couldn't really connect with Ebony (E-Grace), who seemed to be pretty old to still be living in her imagination. I still didn't really
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know what was going on with the story--is she on the spectrum? Presumably at some point she lets down her barriers and makes friends, and also finds out what's happening with her grandpa. I wanted to like this, but am not sure it will appeal to a very broad audience.
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
Challenging book -- it's always hard to be the weird kid living in your imagination. I remember being that kid, except in my case it was faerie land. It's entirely possible that my feelings about this book reflect my strong desire not to be reminded of what that was like, but I digress.
It is hard
I also really dislike that no one ever really explains what is going on with her grandfather -- yes, it's realistic that a kid might not ever know, but it's also annoying. So yeah, lots of feels from this book, but not the feels I was hoping for.
It is hard
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to be the weird kid living in your imagination in the 80s, especially if you are a displaced black girl moved up to Harlem from Huntsville, AL, full of NASA and Star Trek, now faced with hip-hop and dance crews. Her love of space and science and engineering is cool, her loving family is cool, but the book as a whole drags, is really hard to get into, and Ebony Grace is very hard to like. On top of that, the dynamics of parents telling a child to just be normal, while understandable, was upsetting, and the whole book just felt like a kid learning the lesson that shutting down part of themselves in order to get by is more important that really celebrating their identity. That's true, for many people, but it's not a message that I can get behind -- I still dress up in costumes and go play on weekends as a grown-ass adult, and I think it's completely ok to love the stuff you love, even when it makes you hard to relate to. I also really dislike that no one ever really explains what is going on with her grandfather -- yes, it's realistic that a kid might not ever know, but it's also annoying. So yeah, lots of feels from this book, but not the feels I was hoping for.
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Awards
Massachusetts Children's Book Award (Nominee — 2024)
Penn GSE's Best Books for Young Readers (Selection — 2019)
Call number
J4D.Zob