The world is a place to be explored, and in Finn’s Rocket, Finn and his little Sister Gabriella go beyond the bounds of earth into the little-explored realm of space. But this was not exactly in the plans for these two siblings.
Both Gabi and Finn are very intelligent, which wins them both spots at a space camp at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Gabi gets to learn all about being an astronaut, while Finn gets to play with rocket fuel and explore the mechanics of space travel.
However, neither of them are able to see the evil plot that the camp’s commander, Commander Morton, has been planning, and unfortunately, Gabi fits all of the qualifications for this deranged woman’s experiment. After running a series of tests on the young girl, Commander Morton deems her fit for space travel, unknown to Gabi. In the middle of the night, Gabi is brought to Morton; her sleeping area is cleared out, and a story is created about some serious illness that caused Gabi to leave camp early. Except while Commander Morton has been developing this elaborate plan, she failed to double check that all evidence of Gabi was gone—a young girl would never leave her favorite stuffed penguin or her cell phone. So when Gabi’s new friend Wendy finds them, she realizes that something fishy is going on at the space center.
After news of Gabi’s disappearance leaks, one of the camp counselors shares her theory about Commander Morton’s plot with a terrified Finn. Even with video evidence no one, not even his parents, believes that Morton would send a young, unprepared girl into space without any intention of bringing her home. So Finn has no choice. He has to go to the International Space Station and save his sister on his own. So with his two best friends, Axel and Burrito, Finn travels across the world to Sweden where he is lucky enough to convince an entrepreneur to give him a ride on the first ever tourist space shuttle.
Will Finn rescue Gabi? Will Commander Morton get away with her evil plot? You’ll just have to read to find out!
This was such an exciting book! It has sports, nature, treachery, deranged-wanna-be astronauts, and a couple of awesome, empowering kids! What more could a book need? Finn’s Rocket touches on the power of sibling bonds, the hearing impaired, and the exciting yet terrifying idea of space exploration. Definitely a good read, and I would definitely continue following Finn’s story with Finn’s Ship and Finn’s car. Grab your copy of Finn’s Rocket here.
Author Serena Schreiber has a whole series of Finn books if you liked this one and she writes adult fiction as well. Be sure to visit her site to see all of her offerings and don’t forget her blog. It’s a lot of fun and packed with adventure.
Something To Do:
1. Eating like an astronaut:
It’s very simple really. All you do is put anything that can be consumed through a straw, zip it up in a plastic bag with a straw, an slurp slurp! You’re eating like an astronaut!
2. Build your own soda rocket (from Lemon Lime Adventures)
3. Sign language basics (so you can communicate with Gabi in space)
4. Fun Facts about Space Travel:
- ~It takes 3 to 5 days for a spacecraft to reach the moon.
- ~A space suit can weigh between 50 and 350 pounds—on Earth, that is.
- ~There is no sound in space because of the lack of air.
- ~Recent technology allows the use of phones in space.
- ~Since 2000, permanent crews have been living and working in space at the International Space Station.
- ~You become taller in Space.
- ~In space, the skin on your feet peels off!
- ~The word astronaut comes from the Greek word “Astron” which means star and “nautes” which means sailor.
- The Russian cosmonaut has a similar meaning from ‘kosmos’ meaning universe and again “nautes” sailor.
5. This fun activity will teach you a little bit about rockets. It is from one of NASA‘s educational websites and the great rocket template you’ll find below is provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. LOVE all the resources on Kitchen Pantry Scientist!
LAST DAY!!!!As the holiday season approaches, consider adding the gift of books to your shopping list. There are many wonderful booklists available for parents looking to give their child the gift of reading and adventure. A book makes a great gift because they are meaningful, beautiful, portable, appealing, and inexpensive and it’s a gift that can be opened again and again. Books are the perfect gift for any age and a gift that doesn’t require batteries or sizing instruction!
If you would like to get started on your family reading adventure, or would just like to add to your family bookshelf, Audrey Press has some special deals on their catalog of books to get readers and gift-givers on their merry way. From November 30th to December 15th, give the gift of reading, adventure and education at extra-special (and extended) Black Friday prices! Go here for the full scoop on the Holiday Book Love Sale!
The post Exploring the realm of space: Finn’s Rocket Book Review appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
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