I loved it! While it mainly focused on Ann Lous pov I loved how it also showed the rest of her families. I loved seeing the different "rehomings" and how people we would consider less of due to disabilities are the ones actually thriving in their new homes. It really brings the question of what would we do if our current planet was forced to find new homes. The world building was amazing!

I really hope the earth does not go the route expressed in the Jalopy Chronicles. But if it does, I hope there are nice aliens out there willing to take us in. Goodness, what a lots of twists and turns and the ending is --oh my.

4.5 Stars...

This story was so cool! I loved almost everything about it! Yes, it was terrible that the Earth had reached the end of its life, and the remaining 50,000 humans left had to move to other planets to survive, but the world-building in this book was fantastic!

The story follows the Hubbard family (mainly through the eyes of Ann Lou Hubbard), an English family who gets split up in the rehoming of the humans. Each family member has a disability on Earth that becomes their strength on their new home planet (blindness, deafness, missing limb, breathing/asthma, intestinal issues). While the story is told mainly from Ann Lou's perspective, we do get to see how each family member thrives, and I loved visiting all the different worlds.

The terror group GeoLapse is the antagonist of the story. While they can be pretty brutal, the author does a really good job of explaining their brutality without being overly graphic, making this story safe for most children (I'd say 8-10-ish and up).

The ending was a complete surprise, and I loved how it turned out, even if it was bittersweet.

One thing I didn't get, though...

**MILD SPOILER***

With the one family member being as important as they were, why didn't they ENSURE Ann Lou was given a new microchip? It says she applied for a new microchip after receiving her prosthetic arm, but with the government so focused on the environment and the GeoLapse, she never received a response. I find it strange that given the importance of one of her closest family members and how closely they worked with the government, they didn't see to it that she would be microchipped and protected, especially knowing what the future plan was.

**END MILD SPOILER

That's it. That was the only thing that didn't make sense to me in this entire story. Oh, and the logistics of Pyroll and how Ann Lou didn't die a thousand times over, but that's a minor thing.

Overall, I absolutely loved this story, and I can't wait to read the next installment. I absolutely recommend this to kids and adults who love a good inter-planetary space romp! Thank you, NetGalley!

What worked:
The premise of the book is quite unique. Future Earth is becoming uninhabitable for humans, and a terrorist group called the GeoLapse has its eyes set on ruling the planet, and eventually the universe. The world leaders tell the remaining people on Earth that everything is getting better, but the truth is finally revealed. Everyone will die in one month, so immediate plans are made to ship humans to other planets across the universe that have offered to help. Each planet affords challenges making survival difficult, such as a total absence of light or sound.
Each child in the McHubbard family has a unique disability related to one of the five senses. This seems rather strange early in the story, but the differences become important once humans are sent to other planets. The oldest sister Luna has been slowly going blind, so she’s sent to a planet with no light. Riff is the oldest brother and he’s been going deaf, so he ends up living on a planet with no sound. The plot follows Ann Lou, whose left arm disintegrated last year after being exposed to earth’s atmosphere, as she moves to a planet with extreme heat. Her new planet is the first one threatened, and she is the first one to seek answers and solutions.
The story shares a wonderful message of unity, as creatures from across the universe come together to help one another. It just so happens that a group of terrorist humans are the ones who disrupt the harmony. The creatures from other planets come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny cells to towering giants. The one thing they all have in common are beating hearts and care for each other. Ann Lou even develops feelings for a character from another species which broaches the subject of interracial relationships. Ann Lou isn’t sure how she feels about it, since this character is immediately ready to get married!
What didn’t work as well:
The story skips ahead seven years, so the young characters are immediately transformed into young adults. This change totally erases any age connection young readers might have had with the characters. Middle school and early high school maturity and thinking are a whole lot different than being the age of an adult.
The Final Verdict:
Uniting to save the universe. The author’s vivid imagination transports readers into an adventure among the stars. The book celebrates differences and shows how much can be accomplished when people, and aliens, work together. I recommend you give this book a shot.

I had a great time reading this book so much due to its themes that were included in this book! Although I'm sure I wasn't the target audience, I still had an enjoyable experience overall. I would definitely recommend for the younger audience who loves sci-fi!

This is a fun Middle Grade novel which would be a great introduction to sci-fi for younger readers. The fantastical adventures of the McHubbard family run smoothly, without being bogged down in the science of it all. There is a clear environmental angle, with only 50,000 people still surviving on Earth. The aim/goals/manifest of GeoLapse is not overt, but they make typical 'bad guys'. The different worlds the McHubbards are allocated to are interesting and the characters that inhabit them are really fun. The book does not deal with the trauma of being displaced, losing family and a home world in any depth, rather the focus is all on the adventure, which makes is extremely suitable for Middle Grade readers. Overall, it is a fun, fast adventure of universe hopping and trying to protect the world we live in.

The Jalopy Chronicles is a fast paced middle grades read. I liked the dystopian themes mixed with some real sci-fi. As a reader of adult novels normally, the Jalopy Chronicles kept my attention even though I couldn’t get past Caeli Ennis use of the term Jalopy. It is clear from reading this this novel that the author cares about environmentalism and the undertones of caring for our planet or we’ll lose it make this book very relatable for young readers. It is easy to draw a connection with the President who will work as hard ask he can to evacuate the remaining inhabitants of earth and also with Ann Lou and the McHubbard family as they navigate their new lives. Fast paced and fun, the Jalopy Chronicles is a perfect read for grades 5-7 looking for adventure, fantasy and a bit of sci-fi all together