See You in the Cosmos

By: Jack Cheng

Narrated by: Kivlighan de Montebello, Brittany Pressley, Graham Halstead, Michael Crouch, Jason Culp, Thérèse Plummer, Susan Bennett, Dan Bittner, Pete Larkin, Courtney Shaw

Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

A space-obsessed boy and his dog, Carl Sagan, take a journey toward family, love, hope, and awe in this funny and moving novel for fans of Counting by 7s and Walk Two Moons. 

Eleven-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog, Carl Sagan - named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas to LA, Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on Earth, his Earth, is like. But his destination keeps changing. And the funny, lost, remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he'll uncover - from the truth about his long-dead dad to the fact that, for a kid with a troubled mom and a mostly not-around brother, he has way more family than he ever knew. 

For fans of Wonder and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Jack Cheng's debut is full of joy, optimism, determination, and unbelievable heart. To listen to the first few minutes is to fall in love with Alex and his view of our big, beautiful, complicated world. To listen to the end is to know he and his story will stay with you a long, long time. 

Read by Kivlighan de Montebello and a full cast, including Brittany Pressley (as Terra), Graham Halstead (as Steve), Michael Crouch (as Ronnie), and Jason Culp (as Zed). Additional narration provided by Therese Plummer, Susan Bennett, Dan Bittner, Pete Larkin, and Courtney Shaw. 

2018 Audie Award Winner: Middle Grade
Audible Best Kids Audiobook of 2017 - Finalist
2017 Booklist Editors' Choice: Audios for Youth
2018 ALSC Notable Children’s Recording
2018 YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults      

"The premise of the book - a story told through audio recordings - is a natural fit for an audiobook, and the narrators hit it out of the park." (Booklist, starred review)

"Kivlighan de Montebello's engaging young voice embodies 11-year-old Alex Petroski...an altogether captivating listening experience." (AudioFile Earphones Award)

©2017 Jack Cheng (P)2017 Listening Library

Critic Reviews

"The episodic action--which includes narrators Brittany Pressley, Graham Halstead, Michael Crouch, Jason Culp, and others as supporting characters--makes it easy to suspend disbelief and renders this an altogether captivating listening experience." (AudioFile)

Inspired By Voyager II's Golden Record

This Middle Grade novel just begs to be listened to on audio. Inspired by the true story of Carl Sagan and Voyager II’s Golden Record (which I've been obsessed with for years), 11-year-old Alex creates his own golden iPod to show aliens what life on Earth is like. Each chapter is presented as one of Alex's “recordings,” and the audiobook team ran with this opportunity to create a very original audio production complete with a full cast, sound effects, and the whole shebang.

I especially love that they cast a young boy to read the main part — Kivlighan de Montebello gives a hugely heartwarming and hilarious performance as Alex. From what I understand, it's very rare to cast such a young person as an audiobook narrator just because of the skill and sheer endurance it requires.

This had enough crossover appeal for me to enjoy listening to it on my own as an adult, but it would be fun to listen to with a kiddo, too. Don't miss this one if you want to experience the cutting edge of audiobook production!

Out of this world!

I really enjoyed this book, the narration was wonderful and the story was engaging.
I purchased it to listen to with my teenage client. The story gets a little heavy for younger people, depending on their life experience, but she liked it almost as much as I did. I highly recommend it for young people and those young at heart.

Pretty good...

The story was good. But I played this audiobook for my 6th graders and there are NO warnings anywhere that they talk about "French Kissing" but hints to that really meaning sex (6th graders are not that oblivious). There's underage drinking (Tara is 19...) I know I should have previewed it more than I did but I wish there was some information about this somewhere.

Beautiful

This is probably the most amazing audio book I've ever heard. Incredibly well done. perfect.

Great listen

Super cool book to listen to. The audio really adds to the experience that this book provides, and it makes it feel like you actually found the golden iPod that Alex recorded on.

Horrible

Definitely not my type of book! FYI the entire book is an eleven year old boy making recording!

Great for middle ages!

Me and my children and family really enjoyed the performance of this heartwarming and painful. An amazing and realistic journey is brought to us by Jack Cheng

boring

i did not enjoy i was excited at first then disappointed by the author the plot was pretty badly formatted

love the book and amazing reading

this was a great book with amazing performers reading it! i would recomend it to anyone.

Yo hay wo ay yo

This is the best book I love it
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