I loved this book. It was so cute. Many of my readers enjoy books about the solar system and my millennial heart took Pluto's demotion personally. But this is a fun way to explain what makes a planet.

Melleby describes Pluto's anxiety so perfectly that my heart sped up. I have empirical proof in my Apple Watch. As a reader, it broke my heart to see her spiral down; to see how hard her mom was trying, to see her dad's version of trying. I'm just grateful that there was an adult that managed to earn Pluto's trust and that ultimately Pluto was able to be open about her diagnosis.

This title wasn't my cup of tea, but I see that it deserves a place on many shelves in libraries and bookstores for dealing with tween mental health. 13-year old Pluto has recently been diagnosed with anxiety and depression and the way the character is depicted really feels like a young person dealing with these conditions. Pluto is weighed down with numbness and a lack of energy.
She does feel like she can talk to the new kid in town, Fallon, who doesn't have any pre-existing ideas of what a non-depressed Pluto was like. Fallon and Pluto's relationship develops as they share time and hardships with each other.
This book is a good pick for kids dealing with depression and for LGBTQ+ topics.

Nicole Melleby is one of my absolute favorite middle grade authors because she does such a fantastic job at capturing the emotions of being a tween with memorable characters. I loved Pluto’s story so much and looking at her acceptance of her mental illness diagnosis. Also the little romance in this was SO good. Highly recommend.

This book. This. Book. This was so true to my experience with depression and anxiety. What really got to me was the list and the idea that there was a Pluto before, the "normal" or "real" Pluto. I highly recommend this is for everyone. These stories are important.

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Omg you had me at nerdy and queer!! And let me tell you, the book did not disappoint!!! Such a cute coming of age story!

Thanks to Algonquin Young Readers, I was able to get this book for free as a taster for Melleby’s upcoming novel. I was completely interested in the title itself, and the cover work is stunning. I would say the age group is pre-teen-young teen, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Pluto is struggling with her identity. After some severe mental health issues, everyone around her now treats her as if she can break at any moment. Her mother looks at her differently, her former best friend doesn’t feel genuine anymore, and her father is itching to taking her away from everything she knows and loves. Pluto puts together a list to help her feel “normal” again and has to learn how to reshape what she knows about herself and the world around her.

I loved Pluto so much. I loved how much Melleby was able to explore mental health issues in youth through this smart, scientific-minded, logical girl while also illuminating the importance of family, friends, and teachers. I think it’s so important to have books like this that allow young readers to gain language and understanding for issues they don’t yet know how to describe. If you interact with young people at all, then you need to read this book.

Really honest and so realistic. The first MG account of depression I've read that focuses on the kid's depression, rather than an older relative/friend, and doesn't sugarcoat it. And some very gentle, sweet queer exploration!

Thank you, Algonquin Young Readers, for the advance reading copy.

I wanted to love this book so much.
However, the writing wasn't for me. I feel I have read this book when the time wasn't right.

I appreciate the writing and the themes presented in the story.

My Thoughts:
Pluto Timoney rockets the reader into the black hole of depression and anxiety. The author refuses to let us breathe as the opening scene keeps literally pounding frantically to get to Pluto from the other side of the door. I know that young readers will empathize with Pluto. That this is a powerful mirror, window and sliding glass door into mental health for readers that need this book is a given.

For me as a teacher, though, the strength of the character writing put me in my feels and I could not erase my parental empathy with Pluto's parents. Whenever love is not enough as a parent, there is such an immense feeling of guilt and helplessness. I raised three kids that went through that black hole of adolescence and we all made it through fairly unscathed. However, this book just pushed me back in.

The intentionality of the metaphor that threads through the book on "what is a planet" added to the character's name and her connection to the new classification of Pluto being "not a planet" is a little too obvious in adult literature, but I think it really strengthens middle grade literature. This will be a great literature workshop pick for 7th grade.

From the Publishers:
A Publishers Weekly Best Middle Grade Book of 2021
One of The Nerd Daily's “Anticipated Queer Book Releases You Can’t Miss in 2021”
One of Lambda Literary's “May’s Most Anticipated LGBTQ Literature”

The two most important things to know about Pluto Timoney: (1) she’s always loved outer space (obviously); and (2) her favorite season is summer, the time to go to the boardwalk, visit the planetarium, and work in her mom’s pizzeria.

This summer, when Pluto’s turning thirteen, is different. Pluto has just been diagnosed with depression, and she feels like a black hole is sitting on her chest, making it hard to do anything. When Pluto’s dad threatens to make her move to the city—where he believes his money could help her get better—Pluto comes up with a plan to do whatever it takes to be her old self again. If she does everything that old, “normal” Pluto would do, she can stay with her mom. But it takes a new therapist, new tutor, and new (cute) friend with a plan of her own for Pluto to see that there is no old or new her. There’s just Pluto, discovering more about herself every day.

How I Became a Planet is a middle grade, realistic fiction novel by Nicole Melleby. The main character is Pluto, a 7th grader, who is on the verge of being sent away from her home on the Jersey Shore to live with her Dad in the city. The only way she can stay is if she shows progress from her diagnosed anxiety and depression by:

completing summer school
reconnecting with her ex-BFF
doing what her mom asks
Only when Pluto meets Fallon, another person with her own to-do list, does Pluto get the support she needs to come to terms with her new normal.

This is a heavy topic, much like Sharon M. Draper's Out of My Mind, where the neurodiverse internal dialog takes center stage. I would add this book to my school library collection and have it for my home library for my middle grade daughter because Melleby's portrayal of Pluto and Fallon's relationship is a positive one for young people to see. Their romantic relationship organically grows out of their friendship with a supportive community to foster their identities. I hope that more middle grade writers incorporate characters who have complex mental illness needs, as well as more characters who have non-cis-gendered identities.



Here is an interview with Melleby to learn more about this book. Melleby has also written many other middle grade books, see below:

Give this book to all middle schoolers and the adults who work with them. Focusing on depression and anxiety, first love, and transitioning to high school, author Nicole Melleby does a fantastic job.

Being a teenager is hard. Being a teenager with depression is more challenging than most can imagine. Melleby does a fair job relating young Pluto's struggles and the importance of self-acceptance. If you have been there, you know, and you root for Pluto from the first chapter. Easy to read, hard to put down, and characters you are sure you are going to meet on the street.

This was a fantastic book. I always have a harder time getting into books that I read digitally, but this one had me from the very beginning. Very rare. Set in NJ, protagonist is in 7th going into 8th, and covers issues such as depression, anxiety, suicide, sexuality, gender, and more.

One of the best reads this year.

Sometimea it's hard to talk about anxiety and depression with kids, even more if that kid has any of them or even both. These are turbulent , unknown waters that even adults fear navigating them: there's so much we don't know, so many things that could go wrong in the blink of an eye, so many medication adjustments, side effects, psychologists and psychiatrists and people that want to cure you with ~good vibes~.

This book does it perfectly. It shows the good and the bad. The days thay, even when you take your meds, go wrong because setbacks exists and do happen. Pluto is a lovely and brave protagonist, the situations that she goes through are real and, in my case, I saw myself when I was 12, with social situations and an anxiety that eats you alive starting with your chest.

As I said, one of the best reads this year. Recommended for kids and adults.

PS it has a lovely LGBTQIA+ rep 🥰

As you would know there are books that you read and like. But then there are books you read which you LIKE.

How to become a Planet is a book I can't be gladder to read. It's a middle grade themed book talking about depression and anxiety and it features queer characters! Pluto, our main lead, loves all things space. After being diagnosed with depression and anxiety, she misses the last month of school, her friendship with her best friend is on stake and she decides to make a <I> list to achieve all these and becoming her old self.

I can't really choose the right words to describe this book and my reading experience because it was so many things. Middle Grade books somehow have a knack to make you feel and experience stuff which hits harder.

Space has always been fascinating to me, especially astrophysics. Being obsessed with stars, understanding the concept of black hole (I was once again amazed by it) and learning about planets, orbit and why pluto is no longer a planet were definitely a few things even i wondered as a kid and seeing Pluto questioning similar things was really intriguing. But what captivated me the most about this book was Pluto understanding that it's okay to not be okay.

Making lists is a good motivation to start and do something but for Pluto it became suffocating to follow the list after a point, especially if she saw that she's failing certain tasks which she enjoyed in her past. Her journey was more about accepting that she hasn't changed. She's the same Pluto who now has to add her diagnosis to how she functions. And slowly through the book, she comes to realize this.

Apart from this I really loved how Pluto and Fallon developed their friendship slowly knowing their feelings towards each other. Fallon has a list of her own and she ropes in Pluto to achieve things in both of their lists. Fallon and Pluto together learned about few necessary stuff. Even after having rough patches in their lives, they strived to do better as children so young do.

I cannot stress enough how happy I was to see depression and anxiety being represented in a middle grade book because it is something that the kids should know about. And it wasn't just the kids understanding this aspect, it was also the adults around the kids who were learning, understanding and trying their level best. This book is really honest. Pluto and her mom's relationship was honestly one of the things that touched me super deeply. Omg y'all should honestly read this book it's so beautiful, honest and amazing ❤😭

*Trigger Warnings*: Depression, Anxiety, suicidal Ideation, panic attacks, blood, OCD, fights

I recieved an arc copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This is a gorgeous book and any topic of mental health is so timely in todays literature. Depression and anxiety are so prevalent amongst kids right now that putting those issues on the page will help so many young kids to see themselves reflected.

For those who don't read Middle Grade, you should really reconsider. Add this to your TBR. This story is so hauntingly beautiful and represents depression for children in a great way.

I thought this was an important book that lends a very grounded look at how someone, and in turn the people around them, deal with mental health illness. The references to astronomy were also enjoyable!