How to Become a Planet

Nicole Melleby's How to Become a Planet is a tender, honest story for 10 year olds about a space-loving girl who's just been told she has depression.

What happens

Pluto Timoney knows an awful lot about space. Black holes, asteroids, what went wrong for the Challenger. She rings a planetarium helpline with her questions, and her mum named her after her own favourite planet.

But lately Pluto can't get out of bed. She hasn't been to school for over a month. As the summer starts she has a diagnosis of depression and anxiety, and little orange pill bottles on her desk.

Summer on the New Jersey boardwalk used to be the best time of year. Her mum runs the family pizzeria and Pluto practically grew up in it. Now there's a new manager she can't stand, a tutor she has to see and a best friend, Meredith, she's stopped talking to.

Worst of all, her dad wants her to come and live with him in the city. So Pluto makes a list, like the rules scientists use to decide what counts as a planet. Visit the planetarium with Mum. Go to Meredith's birthday party. Start eighth grade in September. If she can tick them all off, maybe she can stay.

There's a girl in neon shorts too. Fallon keeps coming back, even after Pluto freezes and can't take her pizza order.

What stands out is how clearly it shows depression from the inside. The heaviness, the tiredness, the way even getting dressed feels like a huge effort. Pluto's mum is loving and desperate and sometimes gets it wrong, and you feel for both of them.

Pluto narrates her own life in her head like an astronomy podcast, which is funny and sad at the same time.

Something parents should know first. The opening chapter is heavy. Pluto locks herself in her room thinking about wanting everything to stop, and her mum has to break the door down to get to her. There's a panic attack on the boardwalk and talk of therapy and medication all the way through. It's handled gently and with hope, but it could hit hard for a child who's struggling right now, so this is a good one to read alongside them. For a reader who has felt like this, or loves someone who has, it could be a real comfort.

What to read next

If they'd like another girl whose big feelings are getting the better of her, try The Science of Being Angry, also by Nicole Melleby. Joey is one of triplets with two mums, and her temper has just cost the whole family their apartment.