This is a booktalk I did for a library school class assignment. I’ve included the transcript:

“Who are we? Where do we live? What can we do? What makes us human?”

These questions, and more, are raised in the book Greetings from Planet Earth by award winning author, Barbara Kerley. In 1977, the Voyager 2 probe, carrying a golden record of sights and sounds, launched from Earth to venture out to the stars. Twelve year old Theo is fascinated with spaceflight, so he’s excited to begin working on a school assignment based on the idea of the golden record. But space isn’t the only mystery in Theo’s life; he and his sister Janet have been living without a father ever since the Vietnam War ended. He’s curious to find out what happened to his dad, but Theo’s mother and grandmother want to protect him from the devastating reality of war. As he searches for the perfect one minute sound-bite and photograph for his Voyager-inspired homework, Theo also comes across clues about his missing father.

“The truth is we’ll probably never know if one of the golden records ever reaches anyone, much less someone or something who’ll be able to understand it. But maybe the most important thing isn’t that someone will understand the golden record. Maybe it’s that we made it in the first place.”

For a heart-warming story about family, life, and the universe, read Greetings from Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley (New York: Scholastic Press).