Have Space Suit—Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Adventure!

Originally a serial, then published in '58, this well-beloved SF has been in the hearts and minds of many YA and adult readers pretty consistently since it came out. It's a toss-up whether people love it more for the good-science lodged right in rip-roaring adventure tale that includes being a space pirate or running on the moon in a space-suit of your own construction from bug-eyed-monsters (BEMs) or whether it's just because there's a delightfully well-written story with equally delightful smart children full of action, gung-ho, bravery, and the willingness to stand up and fight against enormous odds.

Adventure!

This is a re-read for me, and I think I might have judged it too harshly in my youth. Back in the 80's, I really didn't have much patience for optimistic YA Americana of the 50's. It felt like so much brainwashing. But today? The pendulum has swung the other way entirely, and such bright-eyed can-do attitude feels as mysteriously heroic as wearing a cape and plucking a crashing airplane out of the sky.

What? Read books for knowledge? Do the calculations yourself? Use duct-tape to jerry-rig mismatching valves to save your young friend from asphyxiation before she runs out of oxygen? Stand up and fight for our species' right to live against impossibly unfair odds against a galactic security council that *rightly* imagines that we're likely going to be a danger to countless alien species? Check, Check, Check, Check.

RAH!

(Robert A Heinlein) RAH! RAH! RAH! ;)

Seriously, when it comes to the nay-sayers, the little Americana-isms like soda-jerks and jingles, it's all part of history, and after so much dystopia, just imagining this brighter Earth is a real treat and a half.

Oh, and Peewee is cute as hell and really spunky.

And no. I don't worry for Kip's mental health. Really. Oscar is *not* an imaginary friend. He has physical substance and he's a sight more useful than Peewee's dolly, thank you very much.

Now where's my short-band radio? I'm suited up and ready to go. :)

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