middle grade Archives - Page 329 of 374

Voyager’s Greatest Hits: The Epic Trek to Interstellar Space
by Alexandra Siy (Author)

Booktalk: 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the Voyager mission as the twin space probes that traveled to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, now journey beyond our solar system into interstellar space, where no probe has ventured before. Learn the fascinating story of the scientists, how the Voyager probes work, where the probes have been and what they’ve seen, and what they carry on board–including the Golden Record, a recording of sounds and images about life on Earth.

Snippet: It’s 1965 and the Beach Boys are singing about California girls. Over in Pasadena a graduate student named Gary Flandro is studying aeronautics at Caltech. Gary also has a part-time job: not flipping burgers, but investigating missile trajectories at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). This is literally rocket science.

Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977, aboard a Titan III-Centaur rocket.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Two Truths and a Lie: It’s Alive!
by Ammi-Joan Paquette (Author), Laurie Ann Thompson (Author), and Lisa K. Weber (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Every story in this book is strange and astounding. But not all of them are real. Just like the old game in this book’s title, two out of every three stories are completely true and one is an outright lie. Can you guess which? It’s not going to be easy. Some false stories are based on truth, and some of the true stories are just plain unbelievable. And they’re all accompanied by dozens of photos, maps, and illustrations. Amaze yourself and trick your friends as you sort out the fakes from the facts!

Snippet: And speaking of 911, some plants can even rally an animal army to come to their defense! When caterpillars attack plants like corn or lima beans, for example, the plants send out a chemical distress signal. The scent then gets picked up by wasps, which race in to attack the caterpillars. The plants are saved, and the wasps get a tasty caterpillar dinner. It’s nice to have friends you can call on in a pinch.

It’s Nonfiction Monday!