Rating: 
Summary: Very Fun
Review: This novel is yet another Robert Anson Heinlein juvenile, whichw was written to target the young adult audience, but can be enjoyed by people of all ages. This book doesn't really have a central storyline as the characters are just crusing throughout the solar system. There is a lot of science in this book, and I'll get to this further on. All of the characterisations in the book are very well done and the characters are three dimensional people that seem very, very realistic. The Stones are a space family, and the family is made up of father and son Roger, mother and daughter in law Edith, twins Pollux and Castor, grandma, mother, and mother in law Hazel, sister, daughter, and granddaughter Meade, and son, brother, and grandson Lowell. This book is a narrative with many plots as the family goes through certain things. The book starts off with the family buying a space ship, which is named The Rolling Stone. Then the family takes a two year trip through outer space, and plots out there include Lowell getting sick, the twins getting in trouble on Rock City, and a disease epidemic on a space ship that is traveling adjacent to The Rolling Stone. Throughout the book you are entertained because of a fun plot and great characters. Heinlein did not really put any of his commentaries in his book. This book is just a fun read that will be enjoyed just for the story. However, Robert Heinlein portrays very well family life. He shows how everybody is in disagreement with each other, how problems are solved with compromising, and how each member of the family interacts with one another. You will be able to identify with the characters because you may have (had) some of the same problems and feelings. This is what makes the novel so believable. As with most of Robert's novels, there are lots of scientific facts. Most of the information is on technology and astronomy. Robert teaches many things that are real and also tells about some of his own theories and technological inventions, which is interesting reading since you can compare real facts and inventions to what Heinlein created. "The Rolling Stones" is a great read from start to finish, and is wonderful for science fiction fans or for anybody that finds anything that was stated above interesting. Happy Reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, just plain excellent.
Review: This was the first SF book I ever read, and I still have that ragged copy. It's young adult fiction and the characters are very uncomplicated, but it's a fun romp. Buy this book, but if you do, and like it, do yourself a favor: Don't ever read "The Cat Who Walked Through Walls" becauase one of the Stones shows up in that book, and it ain't pretty.
Rating: 
Summary: Fairly dull, nothing imaginative to grab the reader
Review: Usually Heinlein injects something interesting into all his books, even the young adult stories like this one. They normally make a comment about racism, sexism, or militarism. You may not agree with his sentiments (normally I don't), but at least they are thought provoking. Unfortunately, this book is very shallow, with none of the underlying thought of his other books. It's the story of a family from the Moon (Mom, Dad, 4 kids of various ages, and Grandma) who have wanderlust and set off to Mars and the mining communities of the asteroid belt. The mother is a doctor, and I can't help but think hers would be the only interesting story, but instead of following her off on her calls to the sick (including a mysterious epidemic on a passenger liner and serious injuries to the asteroid miners), we watch her leave and suffer through another mundane episode of the sons' "get rich quick" schemes. This book was written for young adults, but it reads more like a Hardy Boys episode. I fear that Heinlein missed his intended audience (were teenagers really that much less sophisticated in the early 60's?). If you're looking to sample Heinlein's early young adult fiction, I would suggest Space Cadet or Between Planets. If you're like me, and have to read everything by Heinlein, then keep your eyes open for the "Flat Cats" - David Gerrold must have been inspired by these Martian animals when writing his Classic Star Trek episode, the Trouble With Tribbles.
Rating:
Summary: Fairly dull, nothing imaginative to grab the reader
Review: Usually Heinlein injects something interesting into all his books, even the young adult stories like this one. They normally make a comment about racism, sexism, or militarism. You may not agree with his sentiments (normally I don't), but at least they are thought provoking. Unfortunately, this book is very shallow, with none of the underlying thought of his other books. It's the story of a family from the Moon (Mom, Dad, 4 kids of various ages, and Grandma) who have wanderlust and set off to Mars and the mining communities of the asteroid belt. The mother is a doctor, and I can't help but think hers would be the only interesting story, but instead of following her off on her calls to the sick (including a mysterious epidemic on a passenger liner and serious injuries to the asteroid miners), we watch her leave and suffer through another mundane episode of the sons' "get rich quick" schemes. This book was written for young adults, but it reads more like a Hardy Boys episode. I fear that Heinlein missed his intended audience (were teenagers really that much less sophisticated in the early 60's?). If you're looking to sample Heinlein's early young adult fiction, I would suggest Space Cadet or Between Planets. If you're like me, and have to read everything by Heinlein, then keep your eyes open for the "Flat Cats" - David Gerrold must have been inspired by these Martian animals when writing his Classic Star Trek episode, the Trouble With Tribbles.
Rating:
Summary: The cover is misleading...This IS a good book
Review: When I looked at the cover of this book, I was not too excited to read it, but when I did, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It is a book about a family of genius engineers who take an extended vacation from their home, Luna, and travel around the solar system. The protagonists are two teenage twin boys who are constantly trying to come up with ways to make money and always making mischief. Also in the family is their dad, a former-terran-mayor, their doctor mother, an older sister, a telekenetic little brother, and their grandmother, Hazel, who was a character in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. The Rolling Stones is not the absolute best Heinlein book, but it is a Heinlein book, so it's still very good. If you like Heinlein, I would also recommend reading Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Tunnel in the Sky, and especially, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
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