Rating: 
Summary: Relatively Well-Balanced
Review: Robert A. Heinlein (author of "Starship Troopers," etc.) wrote this sci-fi novel that can be best be described as, well, well-balanced. Under its hood, the tale is basically a space opera, though it wears a hood of strong scientific reasoning. It does keep the reader hooked with its innocence and a strange sense of humor I've come to respect.The main character is a high-school student named Clifford 'Kip' Russell, whose whimsical (read the first two pages, probably the most humorous in the book, and you'll see what I mean) and quite odd father has pushed him through his awkward education. (Footnote: The time period is strange, including obvious 50's elements -- Kip works as a soda jerk in a drug store -- but with technologically advanced portions, like moon tours and an evolved UN.) Ready to go to college, Kip instead yearns to see the moon. Entering in a soap contest, he devotes a large portion of his life to advertising Skyway Soap and receives a spacesuit. This suit leads to his kidnapping by an insidious space pirate. And so the adventure begins.. Accompanied by a bratty girl genius and a motherly Vegan (see "Barlowe's Guide to the Extraterrestrials"), the unlikely hero trudges 40 miles across the moon, gets drugged, spends a week in a dungeon, almost freezes to death and sees Vega and the place where the region's life began. I found a great deal of the story fascinating, from the lifestyle of the Vegans to the 1958 description of the moon and Pluto. The adventure comes to a close with a page-turning trial in which Kip must determine the fate of mankind and the ending is extremely weird. The story may sound like a space fairy-tale, but plenty of science is packed in here (cosmology, mathematics, Roman history, and more about spacesuits than I'm sure you'll ever care to know -- during the Moon trek) but the way it's written (there is an unusual proliferance of the phrase, "I shut up," for example) will compel you back most of the time. One bad flaw: some pieces of the plot are never explained. How did the pirates take Tombaugh Station? Or, what exactly were the pirates' motives? Overall, though, you'll probably like this novel.
Rating:
Summary: A stellar novel
Review: Have Space Suit - Will Travel, is an excellent example of Heinlein's juvenile works in his early career. The plot is deceptively simple. Clifford 'Kip' Russel is an average (but fairly bright) teenager who wins a second hand space suit in a contest. Through the influences of his father, and his own desire to visit the moon he educates himself and brings his dump-ready space suit up to operational readiness. Of course he becomes enmeshed in an interstellar plot filled with exotic life forms and intergalactic politics.
Like so many of Heinlein's novels this one draws you in with its adventure and accessible characters. As always, the plot is built upon a foundation of solid science and technology. It is a wonderful way to press knowledge on young people in a palatable format. I know it worked on me as a youngster.
One of the things I love about this book is its datedness. While it is nominally science fiction it provides a fascinating view of the life and culture of the 1950's. As is so often the case with science fiction they make drastically unrealistic leaps with their visions of the future, while society and its moral and political structures remain fixed as they were when the novel was written.
Despite its having been aimed for a pubescent audience, I find myself digging this one out to read at least once a year. I would highly recommend it to you as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Dated SF that still works well.
Review: Capsule Summary: Kip wants to go to the moon, but tickets are far too expensive. He enters a contest, and ALMOST wins the trip... but, instead, gets a spacesuit. His decision to keep the spacesuit and refurbish it is the catalyst that sends him on a literally Galaxy-spanning series of adventures, starting with an alien invasion and ending with the fate of the entire Earth resting in the balance! Review: This, like Citizen of the Galaxy, is one of RAH's best "juvenile" novels. Unlike the latter, however, Have Spacesuit... retains the flavor of the era in which it was written; overall, Heinlein did not extrapolate much on the civilization of Kip's time and it is -- especially where Kip lives -- still a mirror of the 1950s, right down to the way in which television programs were promoted. This isn't really a failing of the book, as it's a useful sort of mirror to look at the past in, and other than that it isn't dated much. The prose reads smoothly, the characters are fun, and like so many other RAH juvenile heroes Kip has to THINK his way out of his problems. This book also emphasizes one of Heinlein's favorite themes, which was that it was important for a man to get a broad AND deep education. Kip starts the book out drifting along through school -- bright as hell, but the schools he goes to aren't interested in pushing him. When he becomes obsessed with space, however, his father points out just how much he's going to have to know in order to get into any college that might possibly get him a spacegoing job, and Kip starts learning on his own. As it turns out, the wide-ranging subjects he learns -- ranging from pharmacy to Latin to orbital mechanics -- have essential application in his adventures across the Galaxy.
Rating:
Summary: Quick and Fun Science Fiction
Review: This is the first book I've ever read by Heinlein, and I suspect that this will not be the last. Any book/author that encourages youngsters to learn more about science and the applications of math, enhances the imagination about the far reaches of space and what it holds, and makes it fun and entertaining will, of course, be highly recommended by me. This is the story of Kip Russell who's biggest desire is to make it to the moon. This story not only takes us to the moon but also to the edge of our solar system and beyond. There were two things that I really liked about this story. The first was the desire by Kip's father that Kip obtain a REAL education, not just the simplistic and spoon-fed "education" of our public high schools. I was also very impressed that this book shows the applications of math in science, though now-a-days a computer or a good calculator would be used instead of a slide-ruler. There were some things that bothered me about this book, though. First, the dialog was a little bit surreal and watered down. The two "geniuses" seemed to be spending WAY too much time explaining to each other what was going on. The other was the trial of the human species at the end of the book. Actually, it was a trial of two different home worlds and it struck me that while there was very little difference between the two races, they received two very different sentences. Those who stood up to support the human race did nothing to support the "worm faces," and the result of the trial didn't amount to very much anyways. However, I would highly recommend this book to anybody who enjoys science fiction and I'm looking forward to picking up more works by this author.
Rating:
Summary: Why HAVE SPACE SUIT-WILL TRAVEL is Good...
Review: I read the book HAVE SPACE SUIT-WILL TRAVEL by Robert A. Heinlein. The book is about a boy named Kip who is in his college years. Kip wins a contest that he is so excited about. He loves outer space and all of that stuff, but this time he got a real souvenir-a real working space suit! Later on in the book, more amazing things happen that are out of this world! One exciting thing after another happens to Kip! I liked this book and recommend it to people who like books with action and a lot of stuff going on.
Rating:
Summary: This is hardly for younger children...
Review: While the spankmeisters at Amazon can blithely recommend that your 1st and 2nd graders can tackle the GrandPooba of Skifi, YOU may want to wait a few years before unleashing your kids unto the world of Rah. (Rah! Rah! Rah!) A great yarn, with inspiration, adventure and a smattering of politics and complex ideas buried under rockets and ray guns, this is easily onf of Heinleins finest Juvies.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book in terrible binding
Review: Others have written about how excellent this book is and I fully agree. This book is fun and inspiring and one of my favorites. I only wish that Heinlein's publisher would stop printing his books on cheap paper that is yellow when it comes off the press and the pages fall out before you finish reading the book. I love Heinlein but can't stand the publisher!
Rating:
Summary: Determination is what it takes
Review: Have Spacesuit Will Travel is a fun book about a high school senior getting caught up in an adventure accidentally. His desire to go to the moon leads him to enter an advertising contest in hopes he will win his way(this after his dad says 'ok, sure, you can go to the moon son' and then Kip discovers it's just up to him to figure out how). The storyline has been covered in several other reviews here, so I'll not cover that. Instead, what I gleaned from this book was that this is something excellent for jr high/high school students to read (well, anyone really, but it would be most benificial to this age group), and I'll make sure my kids do so when they're at that age(along with a stack of Heinlein's other 'juvies') as it really makes mathmatics and science sound like fun. I was even inspired to pull out my husbands ancient sliderule and figure out how to use it(ok, that part will take some more work). This also demonstrates the virtues of courage, self-reliance, honor and perserverance. The story is quite entertaining, and quaint in it's 50's style setting. A fun book which should be in any sci-fi fans collection, and an excellent gift for any young person you may know.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic read for the young and old alike!
Review: I first read this book when I was in the 5th grade. I bought this book because the cover looked interesting, but I didn't find the first few pages too interesting, so it took me a while to really get into it. I'm glad I did though, because the book evokes a sense of wonder that's beyond description. Like another reviewer wrote, I truly envy someone who is reading this book for the first time!!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best!
Review: Kip wanted to go to the Moon! Unlike most of us nowadays, he did something about it. Of course you should always be careful what you wish for! This book should be required reading in every junior high school or perhaps every university. RAH has the gift of keeping you entertained, intrigued, and making you THINK all at the same time! Shakespeare is a quack beside him. This book was written 45 years ago and is as valid now as it was then (perhaps more so). The question you have to ask yourself is if YOU had to stand in judgment for all of humanity would you be as qualified as Kip and Peewee? Are YOU as prepared to go to the moon?
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