Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

Virgil comes home from the last day of school totally dejected.  All year he has been trying to get up the courage to talk to a girl in his class, but was just too shy to go through with it.  At the same time, Valencia, the girl in his class, is struggling with bad dreams about loneliness.  Meanwhile Kaori, a self proclaimed psychic, can feel a stirring in the universe.  Fate, with the help of a guinea pig named Gulliver and a bully named Chet, aligns to bring the three lonely children together and give them the courage to make a difference in their own lives.

This is a darling book.  If you want a light realistic fiction that will make you feel good, this is the book for you.  Virgil, Valencia and Kaori are just such darling kids and the reader is hoping so much that they end up all getting together.  Even Chet is a little bit adorable. The fact that Valencia is deaf, and Virgil has a learning disability, but still they are really good and likable kids is an added plus.  I enjoyed this as much as anything I have read this year.  That said, I don't think it is a Newbery quality, but still, it was a really fun read. (2017, 313 p.)