Reading like it’s my job #2: Juvenile sci fi

Before I begin, special thanks and shout out to Jeremy Anderberg for inspiring this new endeavor. Jeremy and I met recently and I enjoyed hearing about his love for books and reading. Readingreally is his job and his newsletter is awesome. You can find it and subscribe here.

Have Spacesuit – Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein

I’m embarrassed to confess that I didn’t know who Robert A. Heinlein was when I picked up this audiobook. Turns out he’s one of the “Big Three” of sci fi writers. According to Wikipedia, he is also known as the “dean of science fiction writers” and among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction. He wrote Starship Troopers, Friday (which Tony Stark’s AI is named after), and many,MANY more. In short, he’s a sci fi boss. I am ashamed.

Have Spacesuit – Will Travel is one of Heinlein’s novels aimed at teens. It is the story of a teenage boy named Clifford “Kip” Russell who has his heart set on visiting the moon. To get there, he enters an advertising jingle contest where the grand prize is an all-expense paid trip to the lunar surface. He ends up winning the consolation prize, a used space suit. Disappointed at first, Kip cleverly puts the suit back into operating condition, takes it out for a walk around the neighborhood and…things happen from there.

I listened to this one and it was perfectly enjoyable; light and entertaining and made time pass quickly while doing chores or out on a run. I recommend the full-cast audiobook, which your library may have a copy of.

As I said last week, the characters were likable and I enjoyed spending time with them. Kip, the main character who narrates the story, is partly a non-swearing version of Mark Watney (drop everything and read The Martian now if you haven’t already – Kalie Sosdian I’m looking at you!), partly Tony Stark/Iron Man (in the way he converses with his spacesuit that he dubs “Oscar”). PeeWee, the young female protagonist, is fiery and brilliant and a good foil for Kip. I enjoyed their banter and the problem-solving-with-science aspects of the story.

There are things I didn’t like. Act 3 left much to be desired, especially after a fun beginning and middle. I was hoping it would end with more of a bang, but the last act was where Heinlein decided to bring action to a screeching halt and lay down some philosophy and heady stuff. The ideas presented were probably original ideas in his time, and credit should be give where due. But they’ve been explored a lot since and didn’t sound fresh to me. That said, a sci-fi loving teen or pre-teen will enjoy this and it is harmless with respect to language and violence. Kip, while smart, is not a super genius like Ender, which makes him more approachable and relatable.

In my last letter I mentioned that the dad in this book made me rethink my parenting. Well, that’s because he’s a genius and now I want to be a dad genius. There are so many excellent quotes from Kip’s dad and you can check most of them outhere. A few of my favorites are below. I hope to inspire my boys to learn math and science and to put it to practical use to solve problems.

“There is no such thing as luck, just the adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe.”
“Television leaves no external scars.”
“Some people insist that ‘mediocre’ is better than ‘best.’ They delight in clipping wings because they themselves can’t fly. They despise brains because they have none. Pfah!”

This got long, so I’ll save the rest of what I’m reading for next time. Let me know what your favorite science fiction book is and any other recommendations you have.

Thanks for reading,
Kyle