One Giant Leap
by Ben Gartner
Hi! Have you ever been really, really excited about something? Imagine the feeling that you have when you wake up on Christmas morning. Well, multiply that by a hundred and that’s how excited Fin was when he received what he calls “the package of destiny.”
Fin entered a contest to be one of the first kids to go into space. He doesn’t know if he has won or not, when “package of destiny” arrives. He opens it and discovers that he has won!! The only problem is that is has to get a parent or guardian to go with him. His mom is in the hospital and his dad is taking care of her, so he asks his Uncle Dennis to come into space with him. Uncle Dennis seems on board, but the real challenge will be getting Fin’s parents to sign the form. Fin talks to his parents about it and his dad is hesitant, maybe even leaning on the side of “no” at first. But Fin gets upset and makes his parents feel guilty and they end up signing the form to let him go into space.
Before going into space, Fin and the other three winners, David, Kal, and Mae, have to go through extensive training before they can enter space, and test the projects that won them the competition. Their training includes a G-Force simulator, a piloting simulator, and learning about all of the different gear that they’ll need in space. However, an accountant named Deuce seems determined to keep the kids from going to space. He thinks that it will cost too much money and not have any profitable gain. Many of the exercise that the kids do are getting sabotaged. And suddenly, their even going into space is at risk! However, when they meet with the NASA Administrator, after some convincing, she gives them the go ahead to make the trip to space.
3, 2, 1 --- BLASTOFF!!! The trip of their lives is finally here! Before they know it, they’re up in space and looking down on earth from above. The International Space Station is coming closer into sight and everything seems to be going perfectly, until… Everything goes wrong! Suddenly there is the threat of space debris, separation from the adults, oxygen deprivation, and more. Death becomes a very real possibility.
My favorite part of the book was the description of the blast off into space. It was so exciting and amazing and made me feel like I was really there.
Will the kids be able to work together and save themselves, their guardians, and the crew from certain death? Or will this trip go down in the history books as a complete and utter failure? As I always say, read the book to find out!
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor – zero being not scary at all and five being majorly scary): 3
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor – zero having no yucky-lovey parts in it and five having major yucky-lovey parts): 1
I give this book 5 wands.
I absolutely loved this book! It helped me learn more about space in general and took me on an exciting adventure. When the kids faced their different trials and challenges and tried to solve problems, I felt like I was right there with them. This truly was a masterful book!
Source: Review Copy
