I really enjoyed this book. Mass does a great job writing in three distinct voices throughout the novel. The romantic and platonic relationships fit the young age of the characters.

One of the few things I disliked about the book was all the talk about watching weight. I recognize that the book was published in 2008 and diet culture was extremely rampant at time, and that it is potentially still accurate to how 13 year olds would think about weight and physical appearance, but it made me uncomfortable. I appreciate Bree's arc of becoming less vain and how Jack's exercise helped him feel more confident, but some of the comments made by the characters feel borderline fat phobic in this day.

Other than that i enjoyed the novel and think it is a great middle grade read. ( )

"Glowing astronomical details entrance." ~ from Kirkus Reviews

Kids figuring out who they are and what their place in the world might be with the help of a solar eclipse and the beauty of nature. Enjoyed the science and astronomy info, and it was cool to read this story after seeing a solar eclipse myself in august! ( )

For a book that I thought suffered from a slow start, this one really came together by the end. I was fascinated by amount of character growth that occurred even if it did seem artificially fast growth at times. You really can learn about astronomy as well. I like that Wendy Mass didn't soften the hardship of the experience but instead focused on learning to deal with change and learning to grow from accepting it. I felt bad for Ally, smugly satisfied that Bree was thrown out of her superficial comfort zone, encouraged and tormented for Jack, but hopeful for every one of them. That's the sign of a great job at character development. When a reader is drawn to a character even though they are flawed and unfairly burdened in some cases. ( )

Very excellent story. Ending was perfect. ( )