Planet Earth Is Blue (by Nicole Panteleakos)

Another Read Harder book, this one "a children’s book that centers a disabled character but not their disability." I don't know if I would qualify this one as not centering their disability because our main character, Nova, is nonverbal, and to what extent the adults around her are able to communicate with her is a key plot point. But arguably other plot points take precedence and it is on the official recommended list so I will count it. 

This book is really good. It takes place in the 10 days before the Challenger liftoff. Nova is a sixth grader who loves space. She is in her eleventh foster home; her older sister is missing but has promised to come back to watch the Challenger liftoff. We alternate between letters from Nova to her sister and the story of Nova adjusting to her newest foster home and classroom, and eagerly awaiting the launch of the shuttle.

The end, as you may predict, is heart-wrenching and I definitely did sob my way through it. But it's also as "poignant and lovely" as the recommendation promised.  Nicole Panteleakos is autistic herself and does a great job of portraying how autism (especially what we might call "severe" autism) was understood in the late 1980s.  Her afterword talks about some of her specific choices in this regard.  

For those of you out there who read children's literature, especially fellow 80s kids, I highly recommend this one.