Mark Kelly has served as the junior US Senator from Arizona
since 2020. He was a captain in the United States Navy when he
commanded the final mission of space shuttle Endeavour in May 2011.
A veteran of four space flights to the International Space Station,
he is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and
holds a master’s degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate
School.
C. F. Payne has illustrated more than a dozen picture books,
including the New York
Times bestselling Mousetronaut by astronaut Mark
Kelly; the Texas Bluebonnet winner Shoeless Joe & Black
Betsy, written by Phil Bildner; and the New York
Times bestsellers The Remarkable Farkle
McBride and Micawber, both by John Lithgow. He teaches at
the Columbus College of Art & Design, where he is the chair of the
Illustration Department. Payne lives with his wife and children in
Cincinnati, Ohio. Visit him online at CFPayne.com.
When NASA announces the crew of the upcoming Mars mission, Meteor
the Mousetronaut is, shockingly, not on the list.
No matter; the little mouse isn’t about to let his training go to
waste. He packs his spacesuit and stows away on the Galaxy,
floating out to scavenge crumbs while the human crew sleeps. After
six months, the Galaxy reaches Mars orbit—but one of the landing
craft’s engines fails, and the remaining one isn’t strong enough to
transport even one human. Meteor volunteers for duty and, equipped
with a tiny American flag, descends to the Red Planet to gather
rock samples. Six months later, he returns to Earth to be welcomed
as a hero with the other astronauts. While this story inevitably
lacks the freshness of Meteor’s debut (Mousetronaut, 2012), Kelly’s
prose and storytelling have matured, and Meteor’s enthusiasm is as
infectious as ever. Payne’s delightfully regular-looking,
multiethnic and gender-inclusive crew displays the same winning
combination of heroism and lumpiness (the mission commander has an
endearingly potatolike face) that distinguished the first
adventure. Perhaps what’s most striking about this book, though, is
the four-page afterword, in which Kelly summarizes the history of
Mars exploration and discusses the potential for a real manned
mission. His eloquence in advocating for a vigorous space program
bespeaks both passion and experience.
Rodent or no, Meteor sure is one heck of a space ambassador.
(Picture book. 4-8)
*Kirkus*
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