How To Become A Planet by Nicole Melleby

(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!)

 

about book: (summary from Goodreads)

For Pluto, summer has always started with a trip to the planetarium. It’s the launch to her favorite season, which also includes visits to the boardwalk arcade, working in her mom’s pizzeria, and her best friend Meredith’s birthday party. But this summer, none of that feels possible.

A month before the end of the school year, Pluto’s frightened mom broke down Pluto’s bedroom door. What came next were doctor’s appointments, a diagnosis of depression, and a big black hole that still sits on Pluto’s chest, making it too hard to do anything.

Pluto can’t explain to her mom why she can’t do the things she used to love. And it isn’t until Pluto’s dad threatens to make her move with him to the city—where he believes his money, in particular, could help—that Pluto becomes desperate enough to do whatever it takes to be the old Pluto again.

She develops a plan and a checklist: If she takes her medication, if she goes to the planetarium with her mom for her birthday, if she successfully finishes her summer school work with her tutor, if she goes to Meredith’s birthday party . . . if she does all the things that “normal” Pluto would do, she can stay with her mom in Jersey. But it takes a new therapist, a new tutor, and a new (and cute) friend with a checklist and plan of her own for Pluto to learn that there is no old and new Pluto. There’s just her. 

my thoughts:

Wow! What a terrific story. I absolutely LOVED How To Become A Planet by Nicole Melleby - it was fantastic!

Pluto is turning thirteen and has just been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Her mom is trying really hard to help and her dad wants her to come live with him. Pluto just wants to go back to being her old self before her diagnosis. So, she makes a list of all the things that she's always loved to do. She figures that her medication and this list will help her achieve this goal of being the old Pluto.  Except, life doesn't work out that way.  Luckily for Pluto, she has some great people in her life - new and old - that do anything and everything they can to help her through this new chapter in her young life. And let me just say, it's such a treat to join Pluto on this journey - you definitely can't help but have all the feels reading her story. 

Melleby has created a smart, fun, and emotional story that tackles mental health, family drama, friendship, romance, and space. Talk about a clever book! I just loved Melleby's top notch writing, her cast of unforgettable characters, and her unputdownable story. She definitely knocked it out into space with How To Become A Planet. 

I would happily recommend this book to fans of Melleby and to anyone looking for their next great read - you will fall in deep with How To Become A Planet. 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!