JULY 2017 - AudioFile
Kathleen McInerney narrates the authors’ hybrid—a fanciful travel guide to the solar system grounded in solid science. McInerney takes the wide-eyed, cheerful tone of a successful tour guide, patiently recounting basic facts about Earth’s moon and each planet—distance from Earth, gravitational force, and the like—and then delving into potential vacation activities, like writers’ retreats on Venus and hiking on Mars. The combination of clever writing and McInerney’s charming performance is educational and entertaining for listeners who don’t have strong scientific backgrounds and are interested in learning something about the cosmos. This is one of those ageless productions that will be a particularly great choice for family listening. A.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
04/03/2017
With private space companies now offering brief trips to orbit the Earth and the moon, this colorful vacation guide provides a timely and non-technical look at what future space tourists should anticipate. Science exhibit designer Koski and science educator Grcevich open with a brief look at the preparation needed before undertaking space travel, especially since a voyage anywhere beyond the moon and the closest planets will require years, even decades. Many details here will be old news for space travel fans: shoes are unnecessary; Velcro and duct tape can fix nearly anything; and with lift costs around $10,000 per pound to escape Earth’s gravity, travelers must pack light and expect to wear their clothes as long as possible. Tourist excursions include visiting historic landing sites and the final resting places of old probes, or trying exotic sports such as terrasurfing on Venus, rock-climbing on Mars, skydiving through the colorful clouds of a gas giant, or skiing the pink snows of Pluto. Colorful poster art and graphics add appeal. This is an ideal introduction to the solar system for younger readers and casual space fans who crave an imaginative trip into the possibilities of real space tourism. Agent: Rachel Vogel, Waxman Leavell Literary. (June)
From the Publisher
An ideal introduction to the solar system for younger readers and casual space fans who crave an imaginative trip into the possibilities of real space tourism.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Vacation Guide to the Solar System offers would-be explorers a guidebook to what [space] voyages might be like in the future, adventures driven by dreams and supported with science. . . . By recasting these locales not just as places to look at but as destinations to visit, the new book invites readers to imagine what it might be like to be there and do things. . . . The new guidebook often reads not just as a travel guide to the solar system, but from the future.”
—Astronomy Magazine
“The Vacation Guide to the Solar System is from a future we wish were now . . . while Vacation Guide is anything but a hard science book, you'll probably end up smarter for having read it. . . . A fun, new way to look at our Solar System.”
—Ars Technica
“Forget Lake George—we’re dreaming of Saturn’s Lake Titan. . . . If entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Richard Branson have their way, humans will soon be taking their vacations in space. While we wait to get into space, Olivia Koski and Jana Grcevich, a science writer and astronomer, respectively, are giving us mere earthlings a taste of what space travel may look like.”
—Travel + Leisure
“If you want to plan a vacation that’s truly out of this world, look no further.”
—Parade
“What a fun book the Intergalactic Travel Bureau has brought us! . . . As thorough as any real-life travel guide . . . up-to-the-moment knowledge combines with wry wit and charming imagery.”
—New York Journal of Books
“This is a great source for information on our solar system, appropriate for kids and adults alike. Fans of astronomy, science, and science fiction should jump on this book. Anyone who likes entertaining nonfiction (Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars immediately springs to mind) will enjoy this.”
—The Irregular Reader
JULY 2017 - AudioFile
Kathleen McInerney narrates the authors’ hybrid—a fanciful travel guide to the solar system grounded in solid science. McInerney takes the wide-eyed, cheerful tone of a successful tour guide, patiently recounting basic facts about Earth’s moon and each planet—distance from Earth, gravitational force, and the like—and then delving into potential vacation activities, like writers’ retreats on Venus and hiking on Mars. The combination of clever writing and McInerney’s charming performance is educational and entertaining for listeners who don’t have strong scientific backgrounds and are interested in learning something about the cosmos. This is one of those ageless productions that will be a particularly great choice for family listening. A.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
