middle grade Archives - Page 201 of 366

Spaceman: The True Story of a Young Boy’s Journey to Becoming an Astronaut
by Mike Massimino (Author)

Booktalk: From the time he was seven-years-old and saw Apollo 11 land on the moon, Mike Massimino dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Long Island is a long way from space. Kids like him, growing up in working-class families, seldom left the neighborhood. But with the encouragement of teachers and mentors, Mike ventured down on a path that took him to Columbia University and to MIT. It wasn’t easy. There were academic setbacks and disappointments aplenty–and NASA turned him down three times. Still, Mike never gave up. He rose to each challenge and forged ahead, inching closer to realizing his boyhood dream. His love of science and space, along with his indomitable spirit and sense of teamwork eventually got him assigned to two missions to fix the Hubble Space Telescope–as a spacewalker.

Snippet: On March 1, 2020, I left Earth for the first ime. I got on board the space shuttle Columbia and blasted 350 miles into orbit. It was a big day, a day I’d been dreaming about since I was seven years old, a day I’d been training for nonstop since NASA had accepted me into the astronaut training program six years earlier. But even with all of that waiting and planning, I still wasn’t ready. Nothing you do on this planet can ever truly prepare you for what it means to leave it.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

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A Field Guide to Getting Lost
by Joy McCullough (Author)

Booktalk: Sutton is having robot problems. Her mini-bot is supposed to be able to get through a maze in under a minute, but she must have gotten something wrong in the coding. Which is frustrating for a science-minded girl like Sutton–almost as frustrating as the fact that her mother probably won’t be home in time for Sutton’s tenth birthday.

Luis spends his days writing thrilling stories about brave kids, but there’s only so much inspiration you can find when you’re stuck inside all day. He’s allergic to bees, afraid of dogs, and has an overprotective mom to boot. So Luis can only dream of daring adventures in the wild.

Sutton and Luis couldn’t be more different from each other. Except now that their parents are dating, these two have to find some common ground. Will they be able to navigate their way down a path they never planned on exploring?

Snippet: In her last email, Mom had asked Sutton if she’d managed to get the bot through the maze in under a minute yet. Sutton had been surprised her mom remembered the bot. Even when Mom was in town, Sutton did all of her school stuff with Dad.