For fans of Counting by 7s and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time comes a funny， luminous middle grade novel about a space-obsessed boy， his dog Carl Sagan， and a journey to discover big truths about his family ? Eleven-year-old Alex Petroski is determined to launch his golden iPod into space， just like his hero Carl Sagan launched the Golden Record into space ages and ages ago. Instead， Alex and his dog， aptly named Carl Sagan， wind up on a road trip with some unexpected (and awesome) traveling companions and more than one eye-opening detour. On the road， Alex learns a lot about rockets， casinos， animal control， apple pie à la mode， and secrets he didn't know existed—including the truth about his long-dead father， and the realization that for a kid with just a mom and an erstwhile brother， he has way more family than he ever knew.