Author: Erin Entrada Kelly

Genre:  Realistic Fiction,  Magical Realism,  Adventure

Published: March 14, 2017

Award:  Newbery Medal

Themes: Friendship, Courage, Family, Finding your inner hero

About the Book

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly is about 4 middle schoolers that are thrown into a neighborhood adventure in the forest after one of them does an unthinkable prank on another. This book explores themes of friendship, empathy, and more.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 5/5

So, spoiler free review. This book is very nice and written very well in a way that is simple and easy to understand. Erin did a wonderful job, personally . It’s about these characters, Virgilio, Valencia, Kaori, Gen, and Chet, who are far too different from each other and face a number of challenges throughout the first days of summer. They end up bonding over something that nobody would have expected during just the first day of summer break, but who knows? Maybe it’s not a coincidence. 

Favorite character: Valencia is probably my favorite character here in this book. She’s relatable, funny, kind, and a perfect example of kids, especially girls, our age, where she complains and gets annoyed a lot especially by her parents. I admire her willingness to rescue a kid she barely even knew with a kid she didn’t even know. One of my other favorite characters is also probably the snake that bit Chet. 

Pros

• Very good writing 

• well written characters 

• A bit of humor too 

• Gulliver 

Cons

• I really wanted Chet to have some character development and form a bond with the others as well. 

• I can’t stop thinking about what will become of Virgil and Valencia 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 5/5

My first impression of Hello Universe was that I thought it would have science fiction, adventure, and friendship.The world building of Hello Universe felt very real because as I kept on reading I felt like I was a part of the story. I could imagine everything happening in my head. My favorite character is Virgil because I like his character development and how he really wanted to change. I like that, and it inspires me too. It makes me want to change and be better in small ways each day. 

Favorite character: My favorite character is Virgil because I like his character development and how he really wanted to change. 

Pros

• I love how the author wrote what each character was thinking in each chapter. 

• I also love how there are so many good quotes in the story, like “When you’re hungry, you’re hungry”. 

• I like the way the story was written; even though the chapters were short, it still had a lot of detail and happenings. 

Cons

• I feel like the ending of the story wasn’t enough. 

• I wish that the relationship of Virgil and Valencia was elaborated a bit more. 

• I also wish that Chet was able to have more character development. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 5/5

The book felt very real and VERY relateable.

I really liked all the stories and adventures that they went on 

Anyway here’s a spoiler free summary

The main characters is Virgil, Valencia, Kaori, and Chet (the bully)Gen (kaori's younger sister), Lola (Virgil's lola), and one of my favorite characters GULLIVER THE HAMSTER (Virgil’s loyal pet guinea pig). Anyway the core conflict becomes a race against time as an unlikely group of Kaori, Valencia, and Gen must unite, using their unique strengths and intuition, to find and rescue Virgil before it is too late.....

Favorite character: My favorite character is Valencia because she is very relateable especially with her mom like the part in the book where Valencias mom says "Love you, keep your phone on" then Valencia complained that she always had a footnote to her "I love you's". And I also loved the fact that she is very brave to stand up to Chet 

Pros

• I loved the plot and all the adventures that they went on! 

• I loved how it was described it made the story come alive in my hands!) 

Cons

• What I didnt like was the fact that Chet just got left as a GIANT cliffhanger like he just appeared as getting bit by a snake (which wasnt poisonus he was just being dramatic) and then just vanishing into thin air 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 5/5

The world building was really nice, it was written in a way that make each scene easy to visualize.

The characters, especially Valencia, were relatable. My favorite character is Kaori(my goat I don't really know why i just think she's cool and feels the most interesting for me. The quotes in this book are reeally good Lola’s super charming :3

Favorite character: Out of the four main characters Kaori is the most interesting one for me. I like that shes a psychic and her personality is really coo! Her interactions with Gen and Virgil are really funny too

Pros

• very relatable 

• easy to visualize scenes in the book 

• Kaori my goat 

Cons

• Chet’s character development got left in the dust 😭 he had potential in the beginning but in the end he felt really flat 

• Virgil really shouldve said thank you to Valencia 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 5/5

There’s Virgil, Valencia, Kaori and Gen. And, yes, Chet. They all live in one completely ordinary neighborhood, yet the kids were brought together by not-so-ordinary happenings... at least, I don’t think it’s ordinary to be stuck down a well with your pet guinea pig! Now since this is a SPOILER-FREE SUMMARY, I can’t tell what happened, but what I can say that the story is super awesome! 

Favorite character:  All the characters are vivid and easy to imagine. My favorite is Valencia. I like her because despite being deaf, she doesn’t let that stop her from helping out a lot. I like Valencia for lots of more reasons, but one of the qualities about her that I like the best is how she loves nature and animals! Not everybody has the heart to be nice to all animals, even the wild ones. 

Pros

• Characters & their personalities 

• Friendships

• Story flow

• Etc <33

Cons

• I wish the book was longer. I would’ve loved to see how Valencia & Virgil will become close friends over time! :(( But it’s ok. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 4/5

Four typical kids who have very different personalities, a beloved pet and a text-book bully— their lives collided on one atypical day in the woods.

I love how the writer worked on building up each of the character, with Lola’s character (Yes, I have a bias with Lola) adding an extra layer of texture (sort of like marshmallows on your ice cream or crunchy toffee in a chocolate bar) Adding her to compliment Virgil’s timid and reserved character made their conversation more alive!

Favorite character: LOLA! As an old soul, I find her very relatable. Her sensible world view and her wit adds layer to the story! 

Pros

• I love how the author builds the characters. Each chapter feels like a different character is speaking 

• It’s witty and made me laugh a lot 

• It’s heart-warming. Especially the scenes with Lola and Virgil. 

• The characters are a bunch of normal kids. Nothing special— which makes them more relatable 

Cons

• The conflict was not as exciting as I had expected 

• Chet’s character felt really strong at first but felt flat at the end