Spaceman (Adapted for Young Readers): The True Story of a Young Boy's Journey to Becoming an Astronaut

An astronaut who completed spacewalks on two Hubble missions tells his inspiring story in this middle grade adaptation of his bestselling adult memoir, Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe. Fans of The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 will be thrilled by this astronaut's real life adventure. 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. Spaceman takes readers on Mike's unlikely ride from Earth to space, showing the breathtaking wonder of science and technology along the way. "Mike Massimino is a spaceman through and through. In this edition for young people, he tells us how hard work can take you out of this world. He believes in teamwork, and he never gives up. Prepare to be inspired." --BILL NYE, SCIENCE GUY and CEO, THE PLANETARY SOCIETY

About the Author :
MIKE MASSIMINO served as a NASA astronaut from 1996 to 2014. A veteran of two space flights to the Hubble Space Telescope, Mike and his crews set team records for spacewalking time, and he became the first person to tweet from space. He has played himself on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, was featured in the IMAX film Hubble 3D, and has appeared frequently in television documentaries and on late-night talk shows and news programs. A graduate of Columbia University and MIT, Mike lives in New York City, where he is a professor at Columbia and an advisor at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. He is the author of two works of nonfiction: Spaceman, published in an edition for adults as well as an adapted edition for young readers; and Moonshot: A NASA Astronaut’s Guide to Achieving the Impossible.

Review :
“Every generation of astronauts needs a storyteller -- a person with wit, humor, and passion who has lived our collective dreams of space exploration and returned to tell us all about it. Mike Massimino is that person. He's that astronaut. And this is his story.”—Neil deGrasse Tyson   “Mike Massimino writes about space with an astronaut's eye and an engineer's precision. You'll be impressed with his journey and his perspective on where a well-developed space program can take us in the future.”—Senator John Glenn   “Inspired by moonwalkers, Mike grew up, became an astronaut, and fixed the Hubble Space Telescope, all while remaining some kinda’ humble. You can’t help but follow him from Long Island to the bottom of the spacewalk practice pool, then 350 miles up and back. He’s a spaceman through and through; he tells how hard work can take you out of this world.”—Bill Nye, the Science Guy, CEO of the Planetary Society   “Massimino's incredible journeys, filled with grit, courage, suspense and thrills, are told with such candor and delight, that for a brief moment I felt I’d finally made it to space too. Read this book and be inspired to reach for the impossible.” —Brian Greene, Columbia University, author of The Fabric of the Cosmos "An engaging and uplifting memoir that's sure to give readers a deeper appreciation for the U.S. space program and inspire some future astronauts." —Publishers Weekly