The Astronaut's Guide to Leaving the Planet

While I personally do not EVER want to leave the planet (I like breathing oxygen, and living on a rock has little appeal for me), there are plenty of young readers who are interested in careers with NASA and are enthralled with the idea of finding ways to colonize other planets. Or, maybe they just have eaten too much space ice cream from the Air and Space Museum Gift Shop!

Former NASA colonel Terry Virts shares his own experiences in training and going on missions, but also does a great job at recapping the history of the space program, as well as what the requirements are to be recruited by NASA, and the skills that are most helpful for a successful career. The real draw here is the detailed look at what it is like to eat, sleep, and take care of personal hygiene in a zero gravity environment. There are lots of sidebars detailing Virts' personal experiences with a variety of questions that young people might have, such as playing video game in space, seeing other planets, and what happens when astronauts get sick on a mission.

THE ASTRONAUT'S GUIDE TO LEAVING THE PLANET is a delightful middle grade non-fiction that seeks to answer all a young person's questions about what it is like to be an astronaut. The book is written by Terry Virts, a former NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander. The book begins with the history of traveling to space and then goes into information about how astronauts train to go to space and what they can see from space, as well as what life is like while in outer space. Readers will learn a lot about what it is like to be an astronaut through this fun, illustrated guide.

What I loved: This is such an approachable and entertaining non-fiction read. The book is written with a highly conversational tone, as if the author were speaking directly to the reader and telling them all sorts of cool facts and stories. It manages to answer a lot of questions readers may have had about why they do certain types of trainings, what things look like from space, and even things like how toilets work in space. Readers will be fascinated by all this information, which is complimented by key illustrations and photographs throughout. This style will work well for a variety of chapter book readers and makes every page something interesting. For anyone who is curious about space travel, this book is a great place to learn more.

Final verdict: THE ASTRONAUT'S GUIDE TO LEAVING THE PLANET is an entertaining and educational book for space lovers everywhere. Highly recommend for middle grade readers who want to learn all the ins and outs of being an astronaut - straight from the experts.