Clues to the Universe

Benji visits Ro’s house next to see her rocket and find out what he can do to help. Benji meets Ro’s mom, who is bubbly and affectionate and who makes Benji wish his own mother was more like her. Ro shows Benji her “laboratory” in the garage, complete with all sorts of tools and hardware, a radio she and her dad made, and the rocket prototype she is working on. So far, it’s just a rocket body with some wires attached, but she fully intends to make it functional and launch it. At first, Benji planned to do as little work as possible to get the extra credit he needed, but seeing Ro’s eager smile and joking around with her makes him think he might actually have fun.

Benji gets home and finds a letter from Amir, who writes about his new friends and new school. Amir sounds happy and adds that he doesn’t read Spacebound anymore because his mother told him he’s too old for comics. Benji finishes the letter feeling dejected and a little jealous, but he decides to write back and tell Amir about Ro.

Ro struggles to make the rocket’s ignition system work. She can’t figure out how to create a closed circuit. She takes it to her mother, who knows nothing about circuits, and suggests that Ro go next door to Mr. Voltz, who worked as a radiotelephone operator. Ro hasn’t spoken to Mr. Voltz much, but she works up the nerve to go over and knock on his door. Mr. Voltz and his dog answer the door, and when Ro explains her problem, Mr. Voltz invites her inside. He inspects the rocket ignition system and finds that the positive and negative wires are connected backward. Ro thanks him for his help, and Mr. Voltz tells her to come back if she has any more questions. Ro realizes that Mr. Voltz is not such an intimidating person after all, although he has kept to himself since his wife died.

At school, Benji and Ro start to sit together at lunch and quickly become comfortable joking around and talking about everything. Benji enjoys showing Ro how he combines different foods to see what they taste like, and Ro enjoys some of the combinations. She sometimes watches him draw and notices how much the activity absorbs his attention.

Benji and his mom go to watch Danny at the batting cages, and Benji’s mom brings up the subject of his grades again. Benji assures his mom that he’s working on a science fair project for extra credit, which surprises but delights her. As Benji sits and watches Danny, he thinks about how if his life were a comic book, Danny and his supposed perfect life would be the star. Benji feels like he fits in more as a background character or sidekick, with less detailed illustrations and less importance in the story.

Ro and Benji bike down to an open field to see if it would be a safe place to launch the rocket. They bring it out into the field, where they are confronted by a well-known bully named Drew and his friends. Drew starts making fun of Ro and Benji and takes the rocket, and Benji watches as Drew and his friends toss it back and forth. Furious, Ro tackles Drew and grabs the rocket, then tells him to leave. Benji is thoroughly impressed by Ro’s bravery and tells her so. He explains that he and Drew used to be friends because their brothers are friends, but Benji stopped hanging out with Drew when he started bullying others.

Drew and Benji used to be best friends, and their older brothers still are. Drew and Benji used to hang out all the time, but when Drew’s parents started fighting, he started acting up at school. Drew began playing “pranks” on everyone, including Benji, and Benji went along with it for a long time. One day, Drew set the teacher’s bottle of Pepsi up to explode all over Amir when he was the new student. Benji watched and still regrets not stepping in. When Drew’s pranks got out of hand and started to cause real harm, Benji told on Drew, who never forgave him.

Benji bikes down to the general store for the new issue of Spacebound, but Mr. Voltz lets him know that it hasn’t come in yet and adds that he usually saves the new issue for Benji to get before anyone else can. Benji is surprised and flattered, and he decides to tell Mr. Voltz that his dad draws the comics. He feels like he can get to know a part of his dad by reading them and hopes to find him one day. Mr. Voltz listens and doesn’t judge. When he takes a pill, Benji asks what it’s for, and Mr. Voltz answers that he has “bad nerves.” Benji later asks his mother what that means, and she explains that Mr. Voltz carries anxieties from being in the war.

Ro and Benji are in the field for their first official rocket launch. They painted their rocket blue, red, and gold, and they named it Expedition based on the comic they both love. Ro has high hopes, wondering if maybe it will reach space on its first attempt, but she’s calculated that it should reach at least 1,600 feet. After the classic rocket launch countdown, the rocket shoots up into the sky, and Ro takes photos and starts to track its progression. Benji is the first to notice that the rocket is plummeting back to Earth much sooner than expected, and while its parachute does work, it suffers extensive damage anyway. Ro stares at the rocket, wondering what could have gone wrong and disappointed that her first attempt was a failure.

After feeling stuck in their investigation to find Benji’s father, trying to pair up real cities in the USA with cities depicted in the comics, Ro and Benji realize that one comic points to an entirely different clue. They remember that Gemma Harris was actually born on a different planet, not Earth, and start looking at illustrations of that planet. They find a city that looks just like New York and determine that Benji’s dad must live there.

Later on, Danny comes into Benji’s room to talk to him. He apologizes for being so busy and absent lately and admits that he and his girlfriend have been fighting. Benji is surprised to hear this, having always thought that Danny had a perfect relationship. Danny reveals that he found Benji’s plan for finding his father and warns him not to track down their dad. Benji accuses Danny of not understanding what it’s like to need a father, but Danny is offended by this, explaining that he missed their dad for a long time but doesn’t believe that finding him is worth it. Benji remains determined, believing that he needs his father around to feel like someone understands him and imagining how wonderful his life would be if his dad was there. He thinks of Gemma Harris, who stopped at nothing to find her father.