A sensitive middle grade novel in verse about a space-obsessed girl who dreams of becoming an astronaut — and begins to see the world differently when a substitute teacher enters her orbit.

Luna has always loved the night sky. She's an eleven-year-old who knows everything there is to know about space, and dreams of one day becoming an astronaut. The first step in her plan to get there is to ace the space unit in her science class and secure a spot in NASA's summer space camp.

But when Luna's teacher is unexpectedly replaced with a substitute, Ms. Manitowabi, who is looking to shake up science class by bringing in art, Luna's carefully laid plans are crushed. And that's not all that's shifting in Luna's life — changes at home and in her friendships have her feeling topsy-turvy. What on Planet Earth is happening?

Reasons to Look at the Night Sky is an endearing, poetic look at the inner world of a middle schooler grappling with change from acclaimed author and illustrator Danielle Daniel. (From Tundra Books)

Reasons To Look at the Night Sky is for ages 9-12

Danielle Daniel is a writer and illustrator of settler and Indigenous ancestry living in the traditional territory of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek (Sudbury, Ont.). Her books include The Dependent, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Northern Lit Award, Once in a Blue Moon, Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak, Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox, which won the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and was a finalist for the Blue Spruce Award and First Nation Communities Read Awards and Daughters of the Deer, her debut novel for adults.