LitPick Review
Annie is a high school senior cursed with apathy. She has her boyfriend Mark and her hometown of Houston where NASA engineers live and half the population never goes anywhere. After her friend Lea introduces her to Christa McAuliffe, Annie finds herself a role model. Christa is the woman from the famous Teacher in Space program. As basic American history dictates, the spaceship explodes before leaving earth. Faced with sadness, Annie is confused about everything and--quite frankly--a hot mess. On her trip, she comes to know a boy named Tommy and must choose between him and Mark. A page- turner for sure.
Opinion:
Truth be told, as an engineer, I was excited to read this book. However, I had been disappointed in the past when reading about The Challenger in other teen books. Fortunately, this book did not let me down. There were no creepy romance scenes, and I actually wanted to keep reading. Emotion leaks off the pages, and readers find themselves identifying with the characters. Moss also keeps her book real and does not end with Annie becoming an engineer. While I'd have liked for Annie to study math and science, I found myself smiling for her when she finally started to make her own decisions and do what she wanted.
