“Then two days went by, it was almost time to go back home, and you still didn’t have a name. Mama and me were sitting in her hospital bed together listening to the radio, watching you sleep. You were a lot cuter sleeping than you were screaming. Bruce Springsteen was on, a song called ‘It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City.’ Mama loves Bruce like we love David Bowie. The beginning goes, ‘I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova.’ The ‘born blue’ part reminded me of you, so when Mama asked, ‘Well, Bridgey-bug, what should we name her?’ I said, ‘Supernova.’ ”

Nova smiled. She liked thinking about space and David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen and Mama listening to music.

“Mama thought Supernova was silly. She asked, ‘How do we know how super she’ll be?’ She was only joking but I said, ‘Okay, regular Nova, then.’ Mama liked it, especially since it came from Bruce, so that’s your name and it’s perfect. You are super. Nothing can hurt you, or bring you down, and no one can take you away from me. You’re my Super Nova.”

Nova rested her head on Bridget’s chest, listening to her heartbeat. She didn’t feel so scared once she found out she was super.

Finally, Mrs. Pierce was through talking with Stephanie, and she and Nova were on their way down the hall. While they walked, Stephanie talked.

“A supernova is the biggest, most massive kind of explosion that exists in the whole galaxy. Maybe in the whole universe. When a supernova happens, a star gets so bright it can outshine all the other stars around it, even brighter than our sun! It’s like a gigantic firework in a sea of stars. It explodes because there’s a change in its core—that’s the center—and…” Stephanie glanced up at the clock above the doors that led out to the parking lot. “Oh my stars! We’re going to be late! Let’s go!”

Stephanie hurried her up the stairs to the planetarium, where the rest of the class was filing in. Stephanie and Nova sat a little apart from everyone else, near the exit.

“Mrs. Pierce said we should in case we need to leave early,” Stephanie explained.

As much as Nova hated it when people talked to her too slow and too loud, she wished Stephanie wouldn’t zip through everything so quickly and so quietly. While the rest of the class got settled, Stephanie hurriedly hissed odd tidbits of information about astronomy she remembered from her days in middle school. All those whispered words made Nova feel light-headed. She stared straight up at the domed ceiling. Without warning, the lights switched off. Nova jumped in her seat, letting out a squeak and dropping NASA Bear. A couple of kids giggled. Stephanie picked up the bear and handed it back to her.