Jamie is a 6th grader whose dad is an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, preparing for a groundbreaking spacewalk to send Light Swarm Probes toward Tau Ceti - a star twelve light years away - to try to make contact with extraterrestrial life. As the book explains, the mathematical probability of there being life out there is high. There's a lot of math in the book, actually (equation is in the title), which Jamie comes to understand and appreciate better once he starts receiving messages through his cell phone from an alien. Jamie is bewildered at first, but comes to rely on the alien to help him through his loneliness, as well as the worry and resentment that comes from his dad having such a high-profile, all-consuming job.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this book, but ultimately found it touching and fascinating. A good book to recommend to kids interested in physics, math, space, and larger dreams like teleportation and communication with other life forms out there. The book also includes supplemental material discussing the science behind many of the ideas and historical events in the book. I'm excited to push this in the fall, and think it could find a good audience among my students.