this was great. even though this is middle grade and certainly not targeted for a 25 year old woman, I was still able to enjoy it and relate to Pluto. as someone who grew up struggling with anxiety and depression, I felt for her SO HARD. I wish I had access to books like this when I was younger. I think this would be so great for younger kiddos to read who are also struggling with these things.

Pluto has developed depression and anxiety. Her feelings have become so big that she and her mom aren't sure what to do. But they work together to find a treatment plan that meets both of their needs. Her friends are another story. Will they learn how to stick beside her even though she's a hard friend to love?
I like the emphasis on mental health. Readers can understand more about what it's like to have depression and anxiety as they read this book. One quote I love is, "You still are Pluto. You just need to learn how to care for and accept this new understanding of you."

I wish this book had been around when I was a teenager. And I wish for others to read it to get a better understanding of what depression is. I empathized with Pluto so much in the confusion and frustration she felt when her mind and body betrayed her. I'm so happy that this book is in the world.

This book was harder to read than I thought. Pluto deals with depression and anxiety and has several panic attacks throughout the book plus internalized hate and wrong thinking about mental illness meaning you're broken.
It's a journey and it was a hard one to read but nonetheless really special, raw and real.
I really liked it.

Title: How to Become a Planet
Author: Nicole Melleby
Rating: 4 stars (4.75)

Criterion for a planet:
1. It is in orbit around the Sun.
2. It has sufficient mass to assume a nearly round shape
3. it “has cleared its neighborhood” around its orbit.
TW: teenage depression and anxiety

Pluto is a teenager that has recently was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Her mom doesn’t understand and she’s worried Pluto will have to leave with her dad. Pluto loves science and feels like she’s not herself when everything she loved is now so hard to do, when now even being around her friends is the most taxing thing in her life. She makes a list of things the “old” Pluto would do, believe it if she can complete it she can stay with her mom. She meets a girl, Fallon, who doesn’t mind her diagnosis, who has a list of her own, and they try to help each complete the list to feel more like themselves.

This was a very tough book to get through. I kept feeling bad for Pluto. She was surrounded by people who didn’t understand. For a middle grade book it had very strong topics, which i amazing because teenagers get depression and anxiety and its not always talked about. I like the relationship between Pluto and Fallon. I like how Pluto tries to fight it and tries so hard to beat her depression 100% of the time. She is very self reflective but I think the best part is her coming to terms with the fact that there is no “old” and “new” Pluto, there is only Pluto.

This ebook was given to me by @workmanpublishing via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

#middlegrade #depression #anxiety #teendepression #teenanxienty #howtobecomeaplanet #netgalley #earc #advancereadercopy

What a beautiful book. Written from a 12 year old perspective, it is a deep, introspective look at a young girl diagnosed with depression. Pluto had always been prone to mood swings, but suddenly, during her twelfth year her ability to cope eludes her. She lived a small life in New Jersey with her mom; her father in the picture but distantly involved. Pluto finds living in her small world difficult, and even the most mundane of tasks are daunting, but when she discovers that her father feels she would fare better with him in New York City, she is determined to make a list of things she can accomplish to become her old self again. Along the way she receives insight and advice from adults - a therapist, her tutor, her friends, her parents; those who just want her to be whole and healthy again.

It is the story of a 12 year old girl, yet the subject matter is mature and serious. Pluto grapples with depression and mood swings; she also struggles with the loss of old friendships, a new unexpected friendship that stirs her stomach, a first kiss, and she also discovers her tutor has a same sex partner. It is well written, not explicit, and yet it does deal with more mature subject matter. As a librarian, I would definitely carry this book in my middle school library because I think the honesty of it might provide insightful to readers.

Pluto is a well rounded, super developed character that really shows the reader the importance of focusing on mental health for children at a younger age. Watching Pluto struggle with trying to be her "old self", and just getting back to how it used to be is both heartbreaking, and real. Once Pluto realized that nothing will ever be the same, can she finally allow herself to go on a new journey of self worth.

How to Become a Planet is an incredibly well-written story about a middle school girl dealing with depression and anxiety. Pluto doesn't know why she is struggling so much. She missed the last couple of months of 7th grade because she just couldn't get out of bed. Her new medication seems to help a little some days, but she just feels heavy and sleepy all of the time. She doesn't respond to friends' texts or calls, she doesn't want to go to work with her mother anymore, and she just can't figure out how to go back to being "normal" Pluto again.

Pluto lives with her mother, who runs the family restaurant on the boardwalk of the New Jersey shoreline. Her father lives in New York City, and while she sees him on occasion, he isn't always involved with her day-to-day life. But now, with her diagnosis, he believes she can get better treatment in the city and wants her to live with him. Her mother isn't sure what the best thing to do for Pluto is, and is considering sending her to the city because maybe Pluto's dad is right, and a change of scenery will help.

To convince her mother to let her stay, Pluto comes up with a list of things to do this summer: take her medication, go to her (former?) best friend Meredith's birthday party at the end of the summer, go to the planetarium for her own birthday with her mom (a family tradition), and work with the tutor so she can start 8th grade in the fall. But all of these things (except taking her medication), feel too overwhelming to tackle.

Then Pluto meets Fallon, whose family has opened a restaurant near her family's restaurant on the boardwalk. It is easier to talk to Fallon, since she didn't know Pluto pre-depression, and because Fallon has a list of her own to accomplish this summer, including cutting her hair and convincing her mother to let her wear something other than a dress to a family wedding (because dresses just don't feel right to Fallon).

As the summer goes on, Pluto feels she's never going to be "normal" again, and doesn't feel she'll ever cross anything off that list, even with the help of Fallon, her old friends, and her family. But hope starts to sneak in, as relationships are repaired and she and Fallon grow closer and share their first kiss.

As a woman who has dealt with both anxiety and depression, this book was both hard to read and affirming to read. I knew exactly how Pluto felt and how frustrating it is when family and friends who don't have anxiety or depression cannot understand what is going on in your body and mind. I cried with Pluto at times, as well as with her mother, who is doing all she can to help her daughter. The book doesn't have a typical happy ending, but it rings very true to someone who has gone through the struggle of mental illness. Pluto and her mom are learning to take things one step a time and celebrate the small victories, and that is enough to have hope for the future.

Thanks to Netgalley for this advance copy of a wonderful book!

How to Become a Planet immediately grabbed me because Pluto, the preteen main character, struggles with anxiety and depression and she and her mom are just trying to figure it all out, which is something I have experience with as well. Nicole Melleby does an excellent job of explaining and showing all the emotions Pluto goes through. In addition, Pluto and her new friend Fallon are figuring out who they are, including their gender identities and sexual orientation. This book takes your emotions up and down, but every issue Pluto is faced with is handled in a sensitive and authentic way. I believe middle grade readers will find this book a must-read. Thank you to @netgalley and Algonquin Young Readers for providing an DRC.

Best book ever written. 10000/5 stars. Melleby is an okay writer. Pluto is the best planet and character. Highly recommended.

This young adult book is a good reminder for adults, in story form, of all the crushing feelings young people have in middle school (in case we have totally forgotten those particular horrors). At the center of the story is a young girl who has been hit by debilitating depression, her mom, and a eventually new friend. Although I didn't read every sentence on every page, I do feel the author realistically captured what it can feel like to 'have depression' or live with it, both of which American society is seeing far too many youth these past few years. People need to read this YA novel if they have any interaction with children over the age of six.

"It's okay to not be okay."

"What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation." - Glenn Close

"Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” – Fred Rogers

“Some of the most comforting words in the universe are ‘me too.’ That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle, that you’re not alone, and that others have been down the same road.” – Unknown

Do you struggle with mental health? Throughout my childhood, I considered myself pretty joyful and happy, but around age 12, I began to feel a little differently. I worried about things more, was more critical of myself, and sometimes felt lonely, even when I was surrounded by people. As an adult now, looking back, I can recognize that I was likely struggling with anxiety and depression, but my 12-year-old self had no idea.

Even my adult self had no clue, until around 20 years later, when I was diagnosed with PPD, PPA, and generalized anxiety disorder.

It was confusing. Overwhelming. Scary.

A week ago, I posted a green bookstack in support of Mental Health Awareness Month, and today's book I'm reviewing is an absolutely WONDERFUL read for both kids and adults, alike.

In HOW TO BECOME A PLANET, 12-year-old astronomy-loving Pluto Timoney (who's named after her mom's favorite planet) is trying to find her old self - the one who loved going to the planetarium, hanging out with friends on the New Jersey boardwalk, and helping out in her mom's pizzeria.

The one who didn't feel like she had a black hole weighing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe and a struggle to get out of bed some days.

The one who wasn't afraid of crowds, overwhelmed by noise, or panic-stricken at the thought of going to school.

The one who wasn't suffering from depression and anxiety.

Your heart will go out to Pluto as she navigates her mental health journey, and though certain passages brought tears to my eyes as I remembered feeling the same way, there was so much hope present in this book. I loved Pluto's friendships with Fallon and her dad's girlfriend, Sarah. I loved reading about how Pluto's mom stumbled and made mistakes throughout this story, yet was always there and trying to understand and love Pluto better; and I loved the overall message of ACCEPTANCE Melleby's book offers. An anxious person myself and a mom of an anxious little guy, I can't wait to share this with my son as he gets older.

As Ellen @babygotbooks4life so beautifully stated in her post yesterday, "Accepting mental health challenges the same way we do physical health is a work in progress, but things are definitely getting better, and nothing makes me happier than literature for kids and teens that de-stigmatizes mental health. Oh, how I wish representation had been present in books when I was growing up."

I co-sign this sentiment, 100 percent. Knowing that someone has felt the same way you do, has faced your struggle and come out on the other side, is so incredibly important, and Melleby's novel is a warm hug that reassures kids they're seen, understood, and most importantly, not alone.

Parents, teachers, caregivers, counselors, librarians, medical professionals: PLEASE grab this book and read, share, and make it available to the children in your lives. Our society may still be struggling to prioritize mental health, but books like this one give me hope that, one day, it won't be such a struggle anymore.

Thank you to Nicole and @algonquinyr for my gifted copy of this amazing book and my opportunity to be on this book tour!

I ,., genuinely don't know what to say. This is one of the most gut-wrenching and heartfelt books I've read this year, and even sat here thinking about it, I'm suddenly overcome by chills. More than anything, HOW TO BECOME A PLANET is ... real.

Nicole Melleby has written a challenge to all the gatekeepers who believe children cannot/should not read books about difficult topics. This is a story about depression, and black-hole hearts, about lives crumbling apart and the type of giant, frozen dread that can wrap itself around everything. It's about wanting to *stop.* But it's also about resilience and first crushes, about acceptance and the slow, winding road to being okay.

I utterly adored it.

Pluto's voice is just so, so perfect. Her feelings ached through the page, and although Melleby never shied away from exploring the darkest parts of depression, her MG tone was always pitch-perfect. It's emotionally challenging yet written accessibly, and I think that's why HOW TO BECOME A PLANET is going to resonate so strongly with readers. I also appreciated how recovery is written as a non-linear process; without spoiling anything, the portrayal of mental illness was raw and true in its messiness, all the while keeping a wonderful tenderness that left me smiling to myself as I read.

This is a book about a pizzeria on a boardwalk, about summertime and cities and stars. It's about a missing door and a girl who contains universes, and another neon-short wearing girl with a secret of her own. It's about facing up to who we are and what we want. It's about life and growing up and trying your best, and I won't soon forget it. 5/5.

As an adult reader, this book was tough to get through. That is not to say the book is not good for its intended audience; I believe that middle grades readers will find exactly what they need in this book.

I struggled with it because I remember being the main character, depressed (but no diagnosis) and struggling to figure out who I was. Being a teen/tween is hard and this book encapsulates this.

The LGBT rep (and subtle hints at a nonbinary/trans character) was done well. I believe that this book would work well next to We Dream of Space by Kelly.

It takes a second to get into this book as you figure out what Pluto is dealing with. Just like Pluto, the beginning is at times scary and weird and sad. That's how Pluto is feeling as she deals with depression. She wants to get back to her old self so she makes a summer checklist to do and finds a new friend to help her--and she helps the new friend with her list. But of course, things don't go as planned and Pluto still struggles. Does she want to go live with her dad? How come her old best friend Meredith doesn't want to hang out? Can she fix any of these issues?

I love the way the boardwalk on the Jersey Shore is depicted. It's perfect for the beach it's at. Pluto's struggle with a new chronic mental illness is so important to read about it. It feels real, too, where she can't stop herself from sleeping even though she wants to. And she can't go back to her old self without figuring out all of these new feelings. This book may not have incredibly wide appeal but I think the kids who read it will really get something out of Pluto's experience--this adult did.

This is a book about being depressed.

And I know it is a cliche, but it was very depressing to read about depression.

Pluto hates being depressed, and she is taking meds, but she can't seem to shake it.

And there we go, that is the whole book. Pluto goes around being depressed, and not wanting to see her friends, and having trouble with that.

The only bright spot is meeting Fallon, who she is attracted to, but isn't sure why.

And Fallon wants to be less feminine.

I suppose it is all very realistically done, and that is how life is. But, if you don't want to read about how one girl deals with her mental health, don't read this book.

<em> Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

This books was an amazing read, although it is not an easy read. This one is packed full of emotions, just like her others. We follow the main character, Pluto, while she grapples with being diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Melleby writes her middle grade in the higher age range and tackles heavier topics without holding back. I loved the way Melleby approached mental health and LGBTQIA+ rep once again. I found they were accurate representation, at least based on my experience with depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. I found that the way Pluto felt throughout the book was exactly how I have felt, making it easy to connect with her. Unlike her other books, Melleby focused more on mental health for the main character instead of questioning of sexuality--although that is still there throughout the book.

I absolutely felt for Pluto, as I said, but I also felt for all the other characters in the book. Her mom is trying her best under the pressure, her best friend is trying to understand, her new friend is relatable and supportive. In fact, the only person I wanted to smack was her dad (I found him unlikeable and selfish).

The plot overall was interesting. While we follow Pluto around, while she works on her checklist--both the ups and downs of it. I found the journey to be realistic, making it perfect for a middle grade reader--whether that's to see themselves in the story or to understand their friend (who seems themselves in that story). The only thing that held me back from binging this book was the depictions of panic attacks and depression. These were so like my own thoughts and experiences that I would have to stop periodically. I think that's an amazing feat though--to be able to capture these experiences realistically--so I praise Melleby for that. I loved the inserts of science facts, they really called to the nerdy space kid that I am.

I do wish we got more of Fallon! Fingers crossed that we maybe get a companion novel for them?!?!?!

I highly recommend How to Become a Planet to anyone who has loved Melleby's other books or Ashley Herring Blake's writing.

This book is a gem. A rare find of a deep exploration of what it’s like to be diagnosed with depression and anxiety and what it does to you and to those around you. And how much of a toll that takes. Pluto is such a real character and she handles her emotions the way most 13 year olds would, with all the confusion and change and fear that comes with it. I wish I had had this book when I was a kid,

Nicole Melleby's How to Become a Planet is a book I wish I had when I was growing up. It beautifully explores topics of teenage mental health and identity.

Pluto just wants things to go back the way they were - before the depression and anxiety became so overwhelming. And, she has one summer to check the items off her list in order to make it so. What she discovers with the help of her family and friends old and new, however, is that sometimes there is no going back. And, going forward is better and healthier.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

This book about a 12-year-old girl who is battling depression will be a great window for kids who are trying to understand a friend who might be depressed. The book also touches on gender identity and same-sex attraction in an appropriate/interesting way. However the main character, Pluto, feels much younger than a girl who is about to enter 8th grade - I kept thinking she was in 5th or 6th grade. I also didn't like how people were described in the book. Lots of hair color/texture/length information but no skin color information which leads me to believe that all characters were white. Considering the author wasn't afraid to tackle depression, gender identity, and same-sex attraction in her book, I would have expected mention of skin color as an obvious thing to include.