The losers at the center of the galaxy
(Book)

This tale, which winds up being about learning to live with loss and move on but takes dizzying and comical twists getting there, centers on a pair of sibs still grieving two years after the disappearance of their dad, an ex-quarterback for the "Chicago Ursus Arctos Horribles," who suffers from a traumatic brain injury. Joining a captive mascot bear in need of rescue (obviously), a young pop star whose songs are all cat-themed, an artist collective masquerading as middle-school faculty--or maybe vice versa--and several other supporting characters who likewise turn out to be both helpful and quirky, eighth-grade tuba player Winston and his science-geek younger sister, Louise, find themselves swept up in a series of misadventures. With the story line highlighted by Winston's developing crush on a fellow tubaist, chemistry projects with unexpected results, and the mysterious demise of the school's two tubas, they come at last to a frolicsome, fantastic halftime show at the local football stadium--"the center of the galaxy," as their father used to call it. Readers will be hard put to judge which is more entertaining---the plot or the cast--but between the two there's never a dull moment. A buoyant ending leaves Winston, Louise, and the bear (who even gets a POV turn in one chapter) in better places.

Two years ago, Lenny Volpe disappeared. The much-hated former quarterback for the Chicago Horribles, whose repeated concussions from playing caused traumatic encephalopathy, also happens to be Winston and Louise's father. Ever since then, Winston, now an eighth grader at Subito School, has resisted "dying from loneliness" thanks to two things: his tuba, and his friend Frenchie LeGume, a fellow tuba player who has vitiligo. Suspecting that their teachers are part of a criminal ring, Frenchie has enlisted Winston to help investigate. Seventh grader Louise, meanwhile, lives for Science Club despite its annoying members; for the past two years, she has been "working on a cure for brain injuries." But Louise now has an additional mission: rescuing the newest attraction at Horribles games, a caged bear that paces on the sidelines and which reminds her of their dad's constant pacing before he left. Hurt by their father's absence as well as their mother's seeming indifference toward them, the Volpe siblings are relatable as they shut each other out; their journey toward reconnecting is well worth the ride. Heider skillfully interweaves seemingly disparate threads into this character-centered, heartfelt story, culminating in a satisfying conclusion. Ages 8--12. Agent: Tina Dubois, ICM Partners. (Mar.)

Gr 3--7--It is well documented that repeated head trauma received in sports such as football can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disorder that affects many athletes for the rest of their lives. The condition is dramatized in this touching book chronicling the upended lives of Louise and Winston Volpe. Their father, Lenny Volpe, a former quarterback for the fictional football team the Chicago Horribles, had the disease and disappeared from home one day, never to be found. The children are left to their own devices by their hardworking mother, a real estate agent, and grief over the loss of their father and husband remains unspoken among the three of them. Louise dedicates her efforts to finding a cure for CTE with her science club while simultaneously trying to save a captive bear, and Winston (along with his fellow tuba-playing friend, Frenchie) gets caught up in the mysterious behavior of their middle school teachers. The chapters alternate between Louise and Winston, creating two subplots that dovetail at the end of the book. Readers who have family members with chronic illnesses, or who have lost a parent, will relate to the story of this brother-sister duo who work through the grief in the best ways they can. VERDICT This tender, wacky, and often humorous story will be enjoyed by all middle grade readers. Librarians looking for books on unique and timely health topics in fiction should consider this title.--Anne Jung-Mathews, Plymouth State Univ., NH

Two years ago, Winston and Louise Volpe's father Lenny -- beloved former quarterback for the Chicago Horribles -- walked away and disappeared, a hero "lost in time and space, done in by his own broken mind." Now the siblings and their mother ("the incomplete Volpe family") are dealing with his absence in their own ways. At their middle school, Louise has thrown herself into discovering a cure for brain damage in Science Club, Winston into playing tuba for the band. But then...what is behind the mysterious behavior of a group of Winston's teachers? Is a ghost haunting the Chicago Horribles' locker room? Can Louise find a way to free the Horribles' live-bear mascot? Madcap antics ensue, but this is still, at its heart, a story of grief over the loss of a father and husband from CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy); as such, the novel would make a good companion to Jacqueline Woodson's Before the Ever After (rev. 9/20). Heider deftly balances screwball action and humor with poignancy and even profundity, and offers a hopeful conclusion -- in which Winston finds his own "center of the galaxy" with a fellow tuba player, Louise finds an achievable science project, and all the Volpe family members find support in one another. Dean Schneider March/April 2021 p.89(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Winston and Louise have been in different orbits since their football player dad, who suffered from brain damage, went missing two years ago. Lenny Volpe had been a quarterback for the Chicago Horribles. His favorite place was the 50-yard line, which he called the center of the galaxy. Winston and Louise haven't been back to the stadium since attending a failed police press conference there. Grief-stricken, Winston fills the loss with music, specifically playing his tuba in the school band; Louise deals with it by trying to find a cure for brain injuries involving jellyfish and bioluminescence. Winston is only partially distracted from tuba when he notices odd and suspicious behavior by his teachers. Louise, absorbed by her research, is surprised to find room to fangirl wildly popular, civic-minded pop star Kittentown Dynamo and become an animal activist set on rescuing the bear that is the Horribles' new mascot. There is a distinct Daniel Pinkwater tang to this tale of misfit siblings and their unusual circumstances. The story is interspersed with tender memories of their father, both the great dad he was and the confused person he became. The disparate strands come together in a surreal crescendo at the stadium that leaves Winston and Louise better centered than they have been for years. The book features a default White cast. Offbeat and poignant, this is a healing balm for living in an imperfect galaxy. (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* This tale, which winds up being about learning to live with loss and move on but takes dizzying and comical twists getting there, centers on a pair of sibs still grieving two years after the disappearance of their dad, an ex-quarterback for the Chicago Ursus Arctos Horribles, who suffers from a traumatic brain injury. Joining a captive mascot bear in need of rescue (obviously), a young pop star whose songs are all cat-themed, an artist collective masquerading as middle-school faculty—or maybe vice versa—and several other supporting characters who likewise turn out to be both helpful and quirky, eighth-grade tuba player Winston and his science-geek younger sister, Louise, find themselves swept up in a series of misadventures. With the story line highlighted by Winston's developing crush on a fellow tubaist, chemistry projects with unexpected results, and the mysterious demise of the school's two tubas, they come at last to a frolicsome, fantastic halftime show at the local football stadium—"the center of the galaxy," as their father used to call it. Readers will be hard put to judge which is more entertaining—­the plot or the cast—but between the two there's never a dull moment. A buoyant ending leaves Winston, Louise, and the bear (who even gets a POV turn in one chapter) in better places. Grades 5-8. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Two years ago, Lenny Volpe disappeared. The much-hated former quarterback for the Chicago Horribles, whose repeated concussions from playing caused traumatic encephalopathy, also happens to be Winston and Louise's father. Ever since then, Winston, now an eighth grader at Subito School, has resisted "dying from loneliness" thanks to two things: his tuba, and his friend Frenchie LeGume, a fellow tuba player who has vitiligo. Suspecting that their teachers are part of a criminal ring, Frenchie has enlisted Winston to help investigate. Seventh grader Louise, meanwhile, lives for Science Club despite its annoying members; for the past two years, she has been "working on a cure for brain injuries." But Louise now has an additional mission: rescuing the newest attraction at Horribles games, a caged bear that paces on the sidelines and which reminds her of their dad's constant pacing before he left. Hurt by their father's absence as well as their mother's seeming indifference toward them, the Volpe siblings are relatable as they shut each other out; their journey toward reconnecting is well worth the ride. Heider skillfully interweaves seemingly disparate threads into this character-centered, heartfelt story, culminating in a satisfying conclusion. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tina Dubois, ICM Partners. (Mar.)

Gr 3–7—It is well documented that repeated head trauma received in sports such as football can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disorder that affects many athletes for the rest of their lives. The condition is dramatized in this touching book chronicling the upended lives of Louise and Winston Volpe. Their father, Lenny Volpe, a former quarterback for the fictional football team the Chicago Horribles, had the disease and disappeared from home one day, never to be found. The children are left to their own devices by their hardworking mother, a real estate agent, and grief over the loss of their father and husband remains unspoken among the three of them. Louise dedicates her efforts to finding a cure for CTE with her science club while simultaneously trying to save a captive bear, and Winston (along with his fellow tuba-playing friend, Frenchie) gets caught up in the mysterious behavior of their middle school teachers. The chapters alternate between Louise and Winston, creating two subplots that dovetail at the end of the book. Readers who have family members with chronic illnesses, or who have lost a parent, will relate to the story of this brother-sister duo who work through the grief in the best ways they can. VERDICT This tender, wacky, and often humorous story will be enjoyed by all middle grade readers. Librarians looking for books on unique and timely health topics in fiction should consider this title.—Anne Jung-Mathews, Plymouth State Univ., NH