Candace, the Universe, and Everything

De: Sherri L. Smith

A speculative middle grade novel about three generations of Black girls connected across time and space through a wormhole in their school locker.

On the first day of eighth grade, thirteen-year-old Candace Wells opens her locker and is astonished when an unusual bird flies out. Soon after, a notebook mysteriously appears on the top shelf. There’s a name written in it, Tracey Auburn, and a year, 1988. On a whim, Candace writes in the notebook—and she's shocked when a short time later, Tracey Auburn writes back.

Then an invitation appears from Loretta Young, who had the locker in 1948, and the three meet up in the present day. Tracey Auburn is now 53 and a college professor, and Loretta Young is 93 and a quantum physicist. Loretta tells them that her life’s work has been to study the portal and others like it across Chicago and the state of Illinois. But Loretta is now an old woman, and she needs Tracey’s and Candace’s help to complete her research. And to truly get to the bottom of things, one will have to do the unimaginable—pass through the portal herself.

©2025 Sherri L. Smith (P)2025 Listening Library