Katie Kennedy
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published July 18, 2017
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About What Goes Up
Rosa and Eddie are among hundreds of teens applying to NASA’s mysterious Multi-World Agency. After rounds of crazy-competitive testing they are appointed to Team 3, along with an alternate, just in case Eddie screws up (as everyone expects he will). What they don’t expect is that aliens will arrive from another dimension, and look just like us. And no one could even imagine that Team 3 would be the only hope of saving our world from their Earth-destroying plans. The teens steal the spacecraft (it would be great if they knew how to fly it) and head to Earth2, where the aliens’ world and people are just like ours. With a few notable exceptions.
There, the teens will find more than their alternate selves: they’ll face existential questions and high-stakes adventure, with comedy that’s out of this world.
My Review
I definitely enjoyed the constant jokes and comedy between the characters. It created this deep sense of camaraderie in the group and kept the story from getting too bogged down by all of the scientific details. I liked the juxtaposition of the serious crisis and the comedic moments.
The point-of-view alternates between Eddie and Rosa, who at first don’t have great impressions of each other. It’s not long before they come to respect, admire and come to need each other. I liked the chemistry between Rosa, Eddie, and Trevor. They made a great team and balanced each other well.
What Goes Up was a quick read for me. Every time I sat down to read just a few pages, I’d fly through chapter after chapter, always wondering what the teams would face next. There’s enough science to keep sci-fi fans flipping pages and enough great dialogue to keep fans of more character-driven stories well-satisfied. Totally a fun summer read.
Cultural Elements
Rosa is Asian and Trevor is black. At one point Trevor wonders whether his alternate self is gay.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.
Romance/Sexual Content
At one point Rosa needs help getting to town for supplies to manage her period. She’s embarrassed, but doesn’t give any real details about her situation. Brief kissing between a boy and girl.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
A group of boys try to throw Rosa down the stairs. Eddie is nearly injured when a bomb goes off. A couple of skirmishes between Eddie’s team and alternate Earth guys bent on destroying Earth. Nothing graphically violent.
Drug Content
Eddie gets very drunk after a conflict with a family member and the leadership of the program he’s in.
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