Earth to Dad

Gr 4–8—Jameson, 11, checks the JICC (Jameson's Interplanetary Communication Console) daily for new messages from his astronaut dad who left two years ago on a mission to colonize Mars. He knows something is wrong when the transmissions come fewer and farther between, and Dad starts looking thin and haggard. Everyone seems to know more than they are saying, including his new, feisty neighbor, Astra Primm, whose mother, Dr. Primm, was killed on a space mission. Together, the two embark on their own journey to fix the JICC and save Jameson's dad. In this futuristic world, an asteroid has caused the earth to begin drifting ever closer to the sun; global warming, toxic radiation, food shortages, and new technologies are the new normal. There is just enough tension and unease to propel readers without overwhelming them. Jameson appears white on the cover, though his racial or ethnic background is not described in the text. Primm is described as having dark skin and black hair. Physical descriptions are not given for the secondary characters, though some ethnic diversity is suggested via surnames such as Patel, Segundo, Juwan, Haisheng, Ishii, and Branislav.