Pi in the Sky

I love Wendy Mass for her humorous and heartfelt and sometimes quirky characters that result in novels that have the whole package, in my mind. When I started Pi in the Sky, which focuses on Joss, the 7th son of the Supreme Overlord of the universe, I wondered if it was going to hit that note which I love so much.

Right off, we do see Joss’ room for growth, as he feels unimportant in his family role, being the youngest, but seemingly entrusted with less than his brothers who help his father run the universe. All Joss does is deliver pies! When a girl with a telescope spies their planet, The Realms, this goes against the laws of nature, and so Earth is destroyed. It actually isn’t destroyed, but it’s as though it never existed. That means that Joss’ best friend Kai is also destroyed, because his parents were on assignment there, and if they never existed, neither could he.

But Annika, the girl with the telescope, somehow gets sucked into a wormhole and ends up on The Realms. It is through her that we learn more about this planet and Joss’ and his brothers’ roles. Because she’s a clueless earthling (as are we, the readers), the sci-fi aspect isn’t too heavy. We get to see things on her level, and understanding comes little by little.

Suddenly, Joss isn’t the least important brother, when he is tasked with the job of re-creating Earth. Annika is obviously the expert, so they have to work closely together, even though they can’t decide whether to like each other or just be annoyed by the other’s presence!

Each chapter starts off with an interesting quote from a scientist, which ties into the story, but will also quite possibly feed a youngster’s love of space or science.

My 9-year-old son really liked this novel, and I was thinking it was okay, though not a favorite, until I got to the last 1/4. The ending was fantastic and elevated the whole story for me.

In the end, Pi in the Sky is a science-y, space-set school story that kids will enjoy and embrace whether they love fantasy or realism as the settings of their novels.