Reading List for Space Explorers

Young Adult Fiction & Nonfiction (NF) about Space

I taught gifted 6th-8th graders in CCISD's WAVE program for several years and recommend the books/stories/magazines/resources below for further study on the topics covered in class. Links go to reviews and/or author pages. Note that books recommended for younger readers are reviewed on my Kids' Nonfiction and Kids' Fiction review pages.

All astronomy topics

StarDate magazine NF from UT/McDonald Observatory (has star charts and articles)
Analog Science Fiction magazine (all science-based stories)

Astronomy General

A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Charolyn DeCristofano & illustrated by Michael Carroll
Engineering for Every Kid, NF by Janice Van Cleave
Greetings from Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley
Killer Rocks from Outer Space, NF by Steven Koppes
The Mysterious Universe, NF Ellen Jackson
Space and Astronomy, NF by Marianne Dyson
The Universe in a Nutshell, NF by Stephen Hawking (cosmology)

Living on the Moon

Apollo Outcasts by Allen Steele
Crater by Homer Hickam
Darok 9 by H.J. Ralles
Fly Me to the Moon, SF novelette in this collection by Marianne Dyson
Home on the Moon, NF by Marianne Dyson
A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin (Apollo)
Mission Control, This is Apollo, NF by Andrew Chaikin
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
Moonshot by Brian Floca
The Once and Future Moon, NF by Paul Spudis
"The Right Path" short story for Christian kids by Marianne Dyson
Shanghaied to the Moon by Michael Daley

Living in Space

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Comet’s Curse - Galahad Series by Dom Testa
Have Suit Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova
Skye Object 3270A by Linda Nagata.
Spacer and Rat by Margaret Bechard
Space Station Science, NF by Marianne Dyson

Living on Mars

How to Live on Mars by Robert Zubrin
The Callahan Kids: Tales of Life on Mars anthology by Ben Bova, Jim Denny, Marianne Dyson, Brian Enke, Tom Hill, Rebecca Rowe, Michael Carroll
Journey Between Worlds by Sylvia Engdahl
John Carter of Mars – series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Mission: Mars by Pascal Lee
Red Planet by Robert Heinlein
Red Thunder by John Varley
Saving Mars by Cidney Swanson.
Welcome to Mars by Buzz Aldrin & Marianne Dyson
"Zeus's Eagle" short story for Christian kids by Marianne Dyson

Astrobiology/Alien Life

Alien Volcanoes by Michael Carroll (art and science)
Astrobiology, NF by Fred Bortz, PhD
Faraway Worlds, NF by Paul Halpern, PhD, illustrated by Lynette Cook
Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh (a favorite series for alien culture)
Life on Earth--and Beyond, NF by Pamela J. Turner
Planet Earth: Guide to the Planet by Steve Murrie
Planetology, NF by Tom Jones, former astronaut
Seed Seeker by Pamela Sargent
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Astronauts/Astronomers Biographies

Almost Heaven by Bettyann Kevles (women astronauts & cosmonauts)
Apollo EECOM, NF by Sy Liebergot (Apollo flight controller)
Failure is Not an Option, NF by Eugene Kranz (Apollo flight director)
First Man, NF by James Hansen (Neil Armstrong)
Flight, NF by Christopher Kraft (Apollo flight director)
Korolev, NF by James Harford (Russian chief designer)
The Last Man on the Moon, NF by Gene Cernan (Apollo astronaut)
Managing Martians, NF by Donna Shirley (NASA Pathfinder)
To Fly, NF by Wendie Old (Wright Brothers)
The Rocket Team, NF by Fred Ordway (worked with VonBraun)
"Science Fiction Versus the Real Thing" NF articles by Marianne Dyson
Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer by Jerry L. Ross and John Norberg
Taking Off by Jenny Moss (about Christa McAuliffe)