By Charles F. Bolden Jr. with Tonya Bolden
[From the Dust Jacket]
January 12, 1986, at the Kennedy Space Center, 6:55 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
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LIFTOFF!
A reporter called it “a delight at dawn.” This was Columbia’s seventh flight, but for me, Charlie B., it was my very first time star sailing, aboard a space shuttle with the same name as the South Carolina city where I was born and raised.
And I was its pilot!
Join Charlie B., former astronaut and head of NASA, on his four space shuttle expeditions to Earth’s orbit, including the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope and the first US space mission that included a Russian cosmonaut as a crew member.
Ages 8 and up | 112 pages
Hardcover | Candlewick Press | 2024 | ISBN: 9781536216325
“Star Sailor” Made the List . . .
A Junior Library Guild selection
“Star Sailor” Reviews . . .
“Bolden’s lively narrative is as engaging as the well-captioned color photos that appear throughout the book. A detailed yet very readable introduction to the astronaut program at NASA from a well-informed source.” —Booklist
“This autobiography covers the life and accomplishments of Charles Bolden, the first Black man to lead NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General, and a former astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions. This work presents readers the ins and outs of working in outer space, and it’s intended for those students fascinated with the behind-the-scenes look at what happens before, during, and after the space shuttle takes off. . . . Photos and diagrams scattered throughout make this text even more engaging.” VERDICT Recommended for research purposes for middle schools, high schools, and public libraries. — School Library Journal
“An accessible, conversational text, written with veteran nonfiction author Tonya Bolden (no relation), covers the subject’s training, his first mission (to deploy a communication satellite), and his appointment as head of the Johnson Space Safety Division after the Challenger flight explosion. Three years after that tragedy, Bolden and his crew went back into space to deploy the Hubble telescope. Color photos from his four missions support the text and reinforce the scientific information. An author’s note provides more detail about Bolden’s life before and after his NASA career, along with a timeline and personal photos.” —The Horn Book
“Rather than spin this memoir out in a single chronological thread, the co-authors (who are not related) open with the good stuff—the recruitment of “Charlie B.” into NASA in 1979 as the fourth Black astronaut and his four space flights between 1986 and 1994. They follow with information about his childhood, his early career as a Marine pilot and test pilot, and his later stint as the head of NASA from 2009 to 2017. He brings an unusually personal tone to his experiences in training and in orbit, so that whether describing routine meal prep, the pleasure of viewing lightning and atmospheric auroras from overhead, or the fraught process of deploying the Hubble Space Telescope and other satellites, he will draw readers into each highlight moment. So, too, will the plethora of official color photos and, along the closing timeline, family snapshots. Though he generally isn’t one for recording complex emotions (even watching the Challenger explode only days after his own first mission touched down gets a relatively low-key reaction), his deep satisfaction at a host of difficult jobs done well comes through clearly. In at least some of the group scenes, the astronaut is joined by other people of color. As he says, ‘What a ride!’” An important and inspiring astronaut memoir. —Kirkus Reviews