Candace, the Universe, and Everything
Sep 2025 · Penguin
Ebook
336
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
infoThis book will become available on September 9, 2025. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
A speculative middle grade novel about three generations of Black girls connected across time and space through a wormhole in their school locker.
On the first day of eighth grade, thirteen-year-old Candace Wells opens her locker and is astonished when an unusual bird flies out. Soon after, a notebook mysteriously appears on the top shelf. There’s a name written in it, Tracey Auburn, and a year, 1988. On a whim, Candace writes in the notebook—and she's shocked when a short time later, Tracey Auburn writes back.
Then an invitation appears from Loretta Young, who had the locker in 1948, and the three meet up in the present day. Tracey Auburn is now 53 and a college professor, and Loretta Young is 93 and a quantum physicist. Loretta tells them that her life’s work has been to study the portal and others like it across Chicago and the state of Illinois. But Loretta is now an old woman, and she needs Tracey’s and Candace’s help to complete her research.
On the first day of eighth grade, thirteen-year-old Candace Wells opens her locker and is astonished when an unusual bird flies out. Soon after, a notebook mysteriously appears on the top shelf. There’s a name written in it, Tracey Auburn, and a year, 1988. On a whim, Candace writes in the notebook—and she's shocked when a short time later, Tracey Auburn writes back.
Then an invitation appears from Loretta Young, who had the locker in 1948, and the three meet up in the present day. Tracey Auburn is now 53 and a college professor, and Loretta Young is 93 and a quantum physicist. Loretta tells them that her life’s work has been to study the portal and others like it across Chicago and the state of Illinois. But Loretta is now an old woman, and she needs Tracey’s and Candace’s help to complete her research.
About the author
Sherri L. Smith is the author of numerous acclaimed fiction and nonfiction books for young people, including American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky, co-authored with Elizabeth Wein; Flygirl, the winner of the California Book Awards' Gold Medal; The Blossom and the Firefly, the winner of the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators; Orleans; and Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen?
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