Have Space Suit, Will Travel

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Summary: It is a great book.
Review: It was the first science fiction book I ever read and it got me hooked. I read it and then said to myself,"This is a great book." Ever since then I have loved to read, especialy scince fiction. I have read almost every book by Robert A. Heinlein and this is one of his best

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Summary: If you want to turn your kids on to SF, this is the one!
Review: This was the first SF book that I read. It was given to me by my 5th grade teacher. I was hooked! I have given this book as a gift to over 50 kids to get them into reading and thinking. Yea, they use slide rules and Kips' dad doesn't go to jail for tax evasion, but it's still a page burner with plenty of great stuff, even for the jaded youth of today. Got a kid just burning to read something challenging but not too technical? Give them this book and ask them to tell you what they thought of it. You won't be disapointed

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Summary: I read this when I was a Kid.
Review: I echo the review I just read at this site--I read this also in fourth grade, and never forgot it. Now I have a 7 year old son who is a book nut like I was, and I had a revelation--wow, I can try to find it for him at Amazon (all I remembered was the title), and lo and behold--not only was it there--but seeing the review reminded me so much of me, it was a real kick. [e-mail]

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Summary: Fantastic young-adult book good enough for adults!
Review: When I was in 4th grade the librarian noticed that when our class made it's weekly visit to the library I absolutely refused to check out a fiction book. One day she took me to a section I'd never noticed before, where little spaceships with a stylized atom orbit were on the spine of each book. She pulled one down and said "I think you might like this." That book was "Have SpaceSuit -- Will Travel" and to this day I wish I could thank her for what she did. HSWT was the first fiction I had ever seen (at the advanced age of 9) which was not of the "see Spot run" variety. The hero, Kip, is a normal kid a few years older than I was at the time, who has willingly learned latin and french, can do math, has read history, and desperately wants to go to space. He's not a genius, just a normal, smart kid. While walking in his back yard one night pretending to be on the moon he accidentally contacts (via radio) a spacecraft in earth orbit. The spacecraft (to his utter surprise) then lands almost on top of him. Kip meets Pee-Wee, a 9 year old girl smarter than him, the Mother-Thing, and Wormface. He gets to travel to Luna and the Magellanic Cloud and save the earth. This book has everything young people should be exposed to: action, intelligence, a non-condescending authorial voice and, MOST importantly, STRONG moral values, such as loyalty, bravery, and the importance of education. In one scene, Heinlein teaches the reader a mnemonic for memorizing some important facts about our solar system and demonstrates how to solve a problem involving the speed of light mathematically. Importantly, Heinlein was generations ahead of his time when he made the girls and women in his books as smart and brave as the males. Protagonists in all of his juveniles (including HSWT) are of various races and both genders, which makes them great for both boys and girls today. When I finished (in two days!) HSWT I went back to the library and proceeded over the next few years to read every book it had with the little spaceship & atom logo. To this day, I read voraciously, and I know that if I hadn't become one of Heinlein's Children, I would not be the man I am today. If you want to give your kis a reading jones, buy this book. Trust me! (PS: Heinlein has an entire string of juveniles which are still in print. "Podkayne of Mars", "The Puppet Masters", "Citizen of The Galaxy", "Space Cadet", "Starman Jones" and "Tunnel In The Sky" were some that I loved best as a kid." Email me if you want more info. :

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Summary: A golden piece of sci-fi pulp that shines even today.
Review: This is one of those books that seems like it's a byproduct of the true publication date (it's old enough that people use slide-rules, not calculators). Many of the science fiction works of yesteryear are outdated leftovers, left behind because technology has far surpassed the writer's wildest dreams. Not so for Heinlein, whose vision is powerful enough to make this book still enjoyable (despite the ever present slide-rules). It's one of those "perfect timing situations" in which the main character wins a spacesuit as a second place prize, refills its airtanks, and then when he realizes he has no use for a spacesuit at all, is kidnapped by aliens -- of course! Although it may seem like light-hearted pulp fare, it has an underlying seriousness that makes the novel exceptional. It may also be a sad testament to our own space programs that Heinlein's work, after all these years, is not yet outdated.

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Summary: At age 40 - this book has left an impression..
Review: I read this book at age 8 and remembered its fantastic story so many years later that (thanks to Google-searches) I was able to buy three more copies three decades later. What better review than to say; Although I didn't remember the title - I remembered "Mother Thing" and was compelled to seek out this novel, as a present for a young reader!

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Summary: Full Cast Audio Makes This Worthwhile Even If You've Read It
Review: While other reviewers have covered the content I'd like to cover the format here. The production is excellent. This is not a radio adaptation being faithful to the words on the page but it feels like one. Having different voices for the characters, music, and sound effects enhances this recording and makes it well worth your time.

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Summary: One of Heinlein's "juveniles" great for adults too!
Review: Between 1947 and 1959 Robert Heinlein wrote a series of outstanding juvenile science fiction novels, including Rocket Ship Galileo (filmed as Destination Moon in 1950), Space Cadet (which spawned the Tom Corbett TV series), Starship Troopers (basis for the 1997 movie), Starman Jones, and several others. They were all written with respect for real science, in a style that appealed to adult readers as much as teens, with reasonably advanced vocabulary and character development.
Have Space Suit Will Travel is one of the least dated, scientifically (no Martians in this one), and a bit more humorous.
The story concerns a boy named Kip who dreams of flying to the moon. Kip wins a space suit in a contest, and while testing it he is intercepted and abducted by an alien space craft. He get's to the moon all right - and much farther than he ever dreamed!


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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.

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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.