8-year-old John Smith might have the most boring name in the world, but his life is anything but dull! All he has to do is say a few magic words and he is whisked off into other worlds to go on amazing adventures. This time he's an astronaut, off on a daring mission in space. John is about to prove he's ANYTHING but boring.

8-year-old John Smith might have the most boring name in the world, but his life is anything but dull! This time he's the Sheriff of the Wild West and must save the land from the no-good Wayward gang of thieves. Using his quick wit and cowboy antics, John will prove he's ANYTHING but boring.

Johnny Smith might have the most boring name in the world, but his life is anything but dull! All he has to do is say a few magic words and he can whisk off into other worlds and go on amazing adventures. This time he's a brave Knight of the Realm. Using his quick wit and royal courage, Johnny will prove he's ANYTHING but boring.

An astronaut who completed spacewalks on two Hubble missions tells his inspiring story in this middle grade adaptation of his bestselling adult memoir, Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe. Fans of The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 will be thrilled by this astronaut's real life adventure. "Mike Massimino is a spaceman through and through. In this edition for young people, he tells us how hard work can take you out of this world. He believes in teamwork, and he never gives up. Prepare to be inspired." --BILL NYE, SCIENCE GUY and CEO, THE PLANETARY SOCIETY From the time he was seven-years-old and saw Apollo 11 land on the moon, Mike Massimino dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Long Island is a long way from space. Kids like him, growing up in working-class families, seldom left the neighborhood. But with the encouragement of teachers and mentors, Mike ventured down on a path that took him to Columbia University and to MIT. It wasn't easy. There were academic setbacks and disappointments aplenty--and NASA turned him down three times. Still, Mike never gave up. He rose to each challenge and forged ahead, inching closer to realizing his boyhood dream. His love of science and space, along with his indomitable spirit and sense of teamwork eventually got him assigned to two missions to fix the Hubble Space Telescope--as a spacewalker. With universal appeal to boys and girls, Spaceman takes readers on Mike Massimino's unlikely ride from Earth to space, showing the breathtaking wonder of science and technology along the way. "A grand, inspiring, sometimes hilarious ride." -Kirkus Reviews "From his childhood days peering up at the sky to his struggles to find his life's calling, Massimino's story will inspire many kids." -School Library Journal "An inspirational guide for young people on their own life journeys." -Booklist

'My name is JOHN SMITH. Dad says with a name like John Smith no one will EVER make fun of you. Mum says I'm 'one in a MILLION'. But just because I got what my sister calls 'the most BORING name in the history of names..,.' do not judge a book by its cover. My life is ANYTHING but boring! But here's this thing you should know: I have this massive, massive, MASSIVE secret. I can travel into other worlds and go on AMAZING adventures. Granddad was an adventurer too. It's this big thing we share. Granddad says we're members of something called the John Smith Club. He says you don't have to have a fancy name to have a big adventure - just because you sound like a NOBODY you might be a SOMEBODY. Granddad says if you meet somebody called John Smith, he might have this BIG secret too. I joined the John Smith Club on my last birthday and since then I've been on all kinds of incredible escapades. So now you know.' A brand new series by Johnny Smith, the creator of Disney's Gnomeo & Juliet. Book 1: Cap'n John the (slightly) fierce. Book 2: Sir John the (mostly) brave. Book 3: Sheriff John the (partly) wild. Book 4: Spaceman John the (nearly) bold.

The definitive biography of Alan Shepard, America’s first man in space, with a new Foreword by Chris Kraft “One of the finest books ever written about the space program.”—Homer Hickan, author of Rocket Boys “A wonderful and gripping biography . . . meticulously reported in the best tradition of David Halberstam.”—Buzz Bissinger, New York Times bestselling author of Friday Night Lights Alan Shepard was the brashest, cockiest, and most flamboyant of America’s original Mercury Seven, but he was also regarded as the best. Intense, colorful, and dramatic, he was among the most private of America’s public figures and, until his death in 1998, he guarded the story of his life zealously. Light This Candle, based on Neal Thompson’s exclusive access to private papers and interviews with Shepard’s family and closest friends—including John Glenn, Wally Schirra, and Gordon Cooper—offers a riveting, action-packed account of Shepard’s life.

The year is 2331 and there is instability among the human colonies that are spread out across a region of the known galaxy. John Raylor, a by-the-book officer in the Space Security Force, attempts to leave the military in hopes of returning to his son on Earth only to be brought back on one last mission. The mission brings John to the Starship Mavericus with vague details coming from a secret organization within the Federated Nations, the government apparatus for the far-off human space colonies. After debarking from Earth, John discovers two unexpected stowaways aboard the military vessel headed towards an unstable breakaway colony. John finds himself torn between his duty as second-in-command of the ship and everything else aboard the Starship Mavericus. This unexpected mission sets the stage for tragedy and for John Raylor to become the controversial captain on his own personal quest that would change the Federated Nations.

A comprehensive bibliography of books and short fiction published in the English language.

Johnny Smith is sick of having the world's most boring name. But Johnny is about to learn a massive secret: he can whisk away to other worlds and go on amazing adventures. Suddenly finding himself as a Pirate, Johnny will summon all his swashbuckling bravery and fearless daring to prove once and for all that Johnny Smith is ANYTHING but boring.

2020 Space Hipsters Prize for Best Book in Astronomy, Space Exploration, or Space History Come Fly with Us is the story of an elite group of space travelers who flew as members of many space shuttle crews from pre-Challenger days to Columbia in 2003. Not part of the regular NASA astronaut corps, these professionals known as "payload specialists" came from a wide variety of backgrounds and were chosen for an equally wide variety of scientific, political, and national security reasons. Melvin Croft and John Youskauskas focus on this special fraternity of spacefarers and their individual reflections on living and working in space. Relatively unknown to the public and often flying only single missions, these payload specialists give the reader an unusual perspective on the experience of human spaceflight. The authors also bring to light NASA's struggle to integrate the wide-ranging personalities and professions of these men and women into the professional astronaut ranks. While Come Fly with Us relates the experiences of the payload specialists up to and including the Challenger tragedy, the authors also detail the later high-profile flights of a select few, including Barbara Morgan, John Glenn (who returned to space at the age of seventy-seven), and Ilan Ramon of Israel aboard Columbia on its final, fatal flight, STS-107.