A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby

5.0

You know what got me interested in this book? That the main character was named Pluto. Mainly because her mother and I have something in common: Pluto used to be my favorite planet. Until it was not longer a planet of course. You know what got me buying this book? Because I'm currently in a stage in life where I think I can confront my own experience with depression without breaking down completely. This middle grade sounded like a great start.

At the end of the book I was still a mess though. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and it was a case of very ugly crying. However, it was the good kind of crying. The crying and smiling at the same time. The crying because although the story touched my soul, it also hugged a part of me I didn't realize still needed hugging. The crying because for once depression is not treated as something that should be fixed, but just as something making Pluto Pluto.

It's not an easy journey. Throughout the story we see Pluto struggling. Struggling with wanting to be the girl she used to be and struggling with simply not finding the power within herself to do the things she has to do to become that person again. Actually Pluto's summer is one big fight. And although she's also fighting with her surroundings, she's sadly enough mostly fighting with herself, with her own expectations and guilt.

How the author, through the experiences of Pluto, describes depression sounded so incredibly accurate. I remember how I sat in the middle of my room, with boxes and stuff all around me because I was going to clean up, because a clean room is a clear head. And I just had to call my mom. I couldn't do it. I couldn't see it. I wondered why I was even trying and I wondered why I was even hoping that something stupid like this would help. I know how Pluto felt throughout the book. I've been there.

But that also makes her journey so beautiful to read. I think in a way this is both a comforting book for kids dealing with issues like Pluto, although it can also be quite confronting so careful with that, but it's also a book explaining others what it feels like, what it is like, why you can't be the great friend you would want to be deep inside. And combining this hard to discuss topic with Astronomy, and Pluto in particular, was absolutely brilliant.