Clues to the Universe

Clues to the Universe is a middle-grade realistic fiction novel written by Christina Li and originally published in 2021. Christina Li is a versatile and award-winning author with books in the middle-grade, young adult, and adult categories. Clues to the Universe was a Washington Post Summer Book Club Pick, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, and a Junior Library Guild Selection. The story centers on two middle schoolers who discover Friendship and Its Power to Inspire as they work to build a rocket and find a long-lost father. Together, they begin to understand The Science of Living and how Finding Meaning in the Face of Loss can be a healing gift.

This guide utilizes the 2021 Quill Tree Books edition of the novel.

Plot Summary

Rosalind is 12 years old and starting at a new middle school. A drunk driver fatally hit her father several months ago, leaving Ro and her mother alone. Ro and her dad used to watch space shuttle launches, and he would teach her what he knew about space. They started building a rocket together, but he died before it was finished. Ro wants to finish the rocket and launch some of her dad’s belongings into space to honor him.

Meanwhile, Benji is a comic enthusiast and illustrator, and his best friend just moved away. Benji believes his father, who left the family years ago, is the writer of his favorite comic, Spacebound, and uses clues from the comics to try and find out where his father is. In their first science class, Benji and Ro unintentionally sit together. They mix up their folders leaving class and don’t notice until they each get home. Benji goes with his brother, Danny, to his shift at the general store after school. Mr. Voltz, the owner of the store, lets Benji read the comics for sale. Benji sees Ro buying supplies for her rocket and asks her about it. 

After exchanging their folders, Benji and Ro work on a science project in class together and find they make a great team. Benji decides to tell Ro about his dad and the comics. Ro likes the idea of having a mystery to solve and hopes that she can help Benji find his dad since she lost her own. Benji hesitantly agrees to help Ro with her rocket in exchange for her helping him find his father. He then gives her some Spacebound comics to investigate.

They look at comics together at Benji’s house. They both admire the comic’s main hero, Gemma Harris, who travels the universe and searches for her long-lost father. Next, Ro shows Benji her rocket prototype and the lab she has created in her garage. When Ro runs into trouble getting her rocket to work, she takes it to Mr. Voltz, who helps her rewire it. Meanwhile, Benji’s mother worries about his grades, and he says the rocket is a science fair project he’s working on for extra credit.

When Ro and Benji bike to a field for their first flight test, they are approached by Benji’s ex-friend, Drew. Drew takes the rocket and tosses it around with his friends until Ro grabs it back and tells him to leave. Benji just watches. Benji’s friendship fell apart when he told on Drew for pulling harmful pranks on others, and Drew never forgave him. Ro and Benji go back to the field after fixing the rocket, and it doesn’t make the distance Ro anticipated on its first flight. She considers it a failure. She continues helping Benji with his problem, and Benji imagines how great his life would be if his dad was around.

In the new year, Ro and Benji go for their second launch, and the rocket goes a little higher. Ro takes it to Mr. Voltz again, who helps her fix the radio but can’t help with the rocket itself. Ro and Mr. Voltz bond over their shared experiences of loss, as Mr. Voltz recently lost his wife to cancer. Ro invites Benji over for Chinese New Year, and Benji gets to try new foods. Ro tells him about her father and cries. Afterward, the two sit outside and stare up at the constellations.

The third rocket reaches 900 feet, but Ro still doesn’t think it’s high enough. The fourth also fails to meet her expectations. Benji gets frustrated, and angry words are exchanged. Ro feels like she is a failure of a scientist until she comes across an ad for the Spacebound movie in the newspaper and realizes that Benji’s father will be in Los Angeles in two weeks. When she tells him, Benji is excited but also terrified by the prospect of meeting his father. He knows, too, that his mother won’t let him go.

In school, Ro and Benji do their first practice presentation of their rocket, but their poster gets wrecked by Drew’s “prank.” Ro tries to present anyway but is embarrassed and angry, and Benji feels the same. Ro tries to confront Drew after class, but he only makes fun of her more. Ro accuses Benji of not standing up for himself or her and tells him he’s scared of life. She opens her locker to find it full of slime, and Benji ends up pushing Drew and getting into a fight with him. In detention, Benji tells Drew that his pranks hurt people and that he ruined something that mattered to Ro. Benji realizes his dad’s movie premiere is tomorrow and makes the decision to bus five hours to LA by himself.

Ro goes to the general store to look for Benji but only finds Mr. Voltz. Benji’s mom rushes in and announces that Benji is missing, and Ro already knows that he left for LA. She, her mother, and Mr. Voltz decide to drive to LA to look for him. On the bus, Benji thinks about how he is finally on his way to see his dad. He gets to the theater and waits by the red carpet for his dad to appear. When he does, Benji rushes out and calls for him. Benji’s dad is shocked, not knowing who Benji is at first. When he figures out that he is looking at his son, he tells Benji to wait outside until the movie is over. Benji feels lost and rejected. He wants to go home, but his map is gone. He finds Ro waiting at the theater.

Benji tells Ro what happened with his dad and cries. As they’re about to leave, Benji’s dad approaches. He apologizes and asks Benji to come somewhere private to talk, and everyone heads to a nearby diner. Though uncertain, Benji is willing to give his father a chance. Benji’s dad explains that he handled things poorly in the past, and Benji’s mother cut off contact years ago. Benji decides to exchange phone numbers with his dad so they can work on building a relationship. Afterward, he and Ro decide that they are going to finish their rocket and poster for the science fair, which is in 11 hours. They drive home and work through the night to get it done.

Ro and Benji head to the science fair on little sleep, but their presentation catches the eye of NASA workers and the judges. They win the contest and qualify for the state fair. Benji goes home to an angry, worried mother who’s apprehensive that Benji wants to know his dad. The next morning, Ro and her mom talk, and Ro realizes that having Benji as a best friend is the greatest thing she could ask for despite missing her father.

Benji’s first call with his dad is awkward, but it eases up when they start talking about comics and Benji’s plans to create his own. At the state science fair, Benji and Ro win third place, and Benji’s whole family comes to see it. Ro’s mom later announces her wish to move to San Francisco to be closer to extended family, and Ro must reconcile this need with the fact that she does not want to leave Benji or her father’s memory behind. When Ro tells Benji at the state fair, he is sad but knows that Ro is meant for great things. Ro starts to develop feelings toward Benji.

In San Francisco, Ro opens her first letter from Benji, which reminds her of how important and special she is. He includes his first comic, which features Ro as the superhero, flying her rocket through space.