Endeavour's Long Journey: Celebrating 19 Years of Space Exploration

Gr 3–5—Written by an ex-astronaut but plagued by incorrect names, copyediting errors, and other issues, this tribute to the space shuttle Endeavour and NASA's STS Program in general is well fueled with facts but unlikely to leave the launchpad. Having conducted an overstimulated young visitor to Endeavour's final resting place at the California Science Center ("'We're going to the science center!' I scream with excitement"), the author turns narrator duties over to the shuttle itself, which explains to the child in a voice that is "kind and gentle, but firm-like Mom's," how microgravity works, describes several missions, and extols the wonders of outer space. Closing spreads featuring selected "Famous Firsts" for the entire shuttle fleet are followed by a poorly composed quiz ("5. How many parts of a space shuttle were ever made up of?") and a page of photos of Endeavour on its way to LA. One of those photos is the only view of the shuttle actually on display; in her color illustrations, Roski depicts only a smaller mock-up, along with several scenes in orbit and an idealized image of the craft attached to a launch vehicle standing next to a waving U.S. flag. Younger readers are more likely to catch the space bug from broader but better-presented histories of space exploration such as Laura Waxman's Exploring Space Travel (Lerner, 2011) and Marcia Zappa's NASA (ABDO, 2011).—John Peters, Children's Literature Consultant, New York City