Vegas Piece of the Sky, Jennifer Torres
Vegas Piece of the Sky, Jennifer Torres
List: $18.99 | Sale: $13.29
Club: $9.49

Vega's Piece of the Sky

Author: Jennifer Torres

Narrator: Kyla García

Unabridged: 4 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/11/2024


Synopsis

A meteorite comes crashing down on the lives of three middle schoolers changing everything they know about family, friendships, and community in this charming and heartfelt novel with a light STEM touch.

The space rock is just the latest thing to land, uninvited, in Vega Lucero’s road-stop hometown. But when she discovers how much a chunk of the meteorite might be worth, she realizes it’s exactly the treasure she’s been hoping to find—and maybe a way to convince her mom not to sell the family store to big city developers to help pay for her grandpa Tata's medical expenses. 

Determined to find more pieces of the sky somewhere in the perilous desert wilderness, stubbornly independent Vega must set aside her distrust of outsiders to team up with Jasper, a would-be rival—and her own tagalong cousin Mila—on an overnight adventure to find more meteorites before the professional hunters who have descended on Date City do. But along the way, she realizes that she's not the only one with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Jasper and Mila have secrets and worries of their own that has brought them on this journey.

Together, this ragtag group will battle against coyotes, a flood, and scorpions. But what they will ultimately discover is that no treasure is big enough to prevent unwelcome change. Only family and friends can help weather the unexpected that life brings.

About Jennifer Torres

Jennifer Torres works as a freelance journalist and leads an early literacy campaign on behalf of the University of the Pacific. She is the author of Flor and Miranda Steal the Show; Stef Soto, Taco Queen; and Finding the Music/En pos de la musica and lives with her husband and two little girls in central California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bonnie on March 14, 2024

This quick read was just the right amount of adventure and suspense. A meteorite comes crashing down on the lives of three middle schoolers. And finding it could solve all their problems. But, first they have to battle against coyotes, a flood, and getting lost in the desert at night. I would recomm......more

Goodreads review by Megyn on May 24, 2024

Vega and her family own a small convince store in a small town surrounded by desert. Her cousin Mila is visiting for the summer and something amazing happens. A meteorite falls in their town and everyone is on the hunt for pieces of it. Jasper and his dad come to town to join the hunt. This was a go......more

Goodreads review by Glenna on August 18, 2024

Vega, her cousin Mila, and a stranger to Date City, all have different reasons to want to find a piece of the meteor that struck somewhere in the Bobcat Mountains. Their journey together one night reveals each person's dreads and desires.......more

Goodreads review by Alicia on October 14, 2024

A neat little science-forward middle grade about hunting down a meteorite. It's part survival like Hatchet mixed with friendship and family because the larger problem is that medical bills are piling up and Vega's mom might sell the business in order to make it all work- she's convinced that if she......more

Goodreads review by LS on August 22, 2024

This was a fast read and quite enjoyable. It is told in three voices for each of the main characters. Each one has a reason why they want to find a piece of a meteorite but all of them believe it will solve a problem in their life. The adventures they encounter the night of their search bring them c......more


Quotes

"Captivating...very entertaining."—Booklist

"The fast-paced read is a classic summer coming-of-age story with plenty of adventure and heart. As in all good quests, the story’s true treasures are the relationships formed along the way."—Kirkus Reviews

"Here readers find well-developed characters with distinct voices and a tightly paced, ­fast-moving plot that harmoniously blend into a heartwarming, energetic novel."—School Library Journal

Praise for Stef Soto, Taco Queen:

"The core of the story—friendship and the importance of family—wins out, leaving tweens with a satisfying, gentle read." —School Library Journal

"[A] well written novel about family and pride and would be a great addition to the library." —School Library Connection

"[An] engaging glimpse of food-truck culture through the Soto family's sacrifices, values, and hardships. Once readers get past the drama, they'll cheer for Stef Soto, her family, and Tia Perla." —Kirkus Reviews

"This cheery, relatable story features short and sweet chapters with plenty of Spanish words and phrases sprinkled in and a cheer-worthy main character in Stef, a happy, funny girl who adores art above all." —Booklist

"Young readers will feel a kinship with Stef as she struggles to spread her wings in this engaging and relatable middle-grade novel about growing up." —Horn Book

"The bones of this polished debut are familiar...but Torres fleshes them out with authenticity, humor, and heart. Stef's fresh, honest voice will resonate with a broad swath of readers, as will the relatable struggles she negotiates." —Publishers Weekly

"Spanish words and humorous banter pepper the dialogue, and the dual stories of the threatened family business and Stef's issues with classmates make a nice, age-appropriate balance that validates Stef's experience while pointing to a world beyond middle school politics. Readers will be happy to snack on this." —The Bulletin