March 15, 2009
Not Moonraker, Moonwake
image from Spudis Lunar Resources
Paul Spudis has written hundreds of scientific papers and three professional books about the Moon, but the publication that may be his most important is Moonwake, a novel he coauthored with his wife Anne in 2006. This is what librarians classify as a juvenile book, not an assessment of its writing quality, but an indication that it was written for young readers - young teens, in this case. MoonWake is about a teen who reluctantly has to leave his friends and grandpa on Earth to join his father, a lunar scientist, and his mother, a teacher who just got a classroom position on the Moon. I admit I just started reading this book today, and can't give a detailed synopsis but recommend it for what I expect to be accurate and realistic depictions of the look and feel of living on the Moon. The reason I mention this book today, rather than 3 years ago when it came out, is that the Spudis' just released it as a free download. I will convert it to an ebook and use the Stanza software to read it on my iPhone. I suggest that you pass it along to teens you know so that they can read it (and be cool with their iPhone or reader of choice) and begin to imagine themselves in a future that could be coming. Of course, in the real future the teen going to the Moon may be named Lakshmi or Chang, rather than Mike, but that is OK. Let's encourage youth everywhere to aspire to the heavens.
Chuck Wood
Related Links
More kids books about the Moon!
Yesterday's LPOD: After And More After
Tomorrow's LPOD: New View, Old Basin
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