AdLit.org is a national multimedia project offering information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers. AdLit.org is an educational initiative of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital, and is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and by the Ann B. and Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation.
Air & Space
For those who dream of being airborne, rather than earthbound — fiction and nonfiction about inventors, adventurers, and technological innovations that allow mankind to travel by air and explore space.
Eyes on the Skies: 400 Years of Telescopic Discovery
Age Level: 14-16
The history of the telescope and telescopic discovery from Galileo to Hubble with fantastic, high-quality color photographs.
Seven Wonders of Space Technology
Age Level: 12-14
An introduction to seven important developments in space technology, including orbiting satellites, telescopes, the international space station, and Mars rovers. What will the eighth wonder be?
T-Minus: The Race to the Moon
Age Level: 12-14
A graphic-novel-style history of the Cold War competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to succeed in manned space flight, filled with detail on the success and failure of individual mission attempts.
Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon
Age Level: 9-12
A behind-the-scenes look at the people on the ground — engineers, safety inspectors, seamstresses, painters, doctors, electricians — who helped get a man on the moon. Also includes many fascinating photos.
One Small Step
Age Level: 9-12
Thirteen-year-old Scott has learned a lot from his Dad — an ace pilot and flying instructor. When Scott adeptly lands a damaged plane on his own, NASA thinks he might just be the ideal candidate for a practice mission to space. Will Scott become the first teenager in space?
This Place Has No Atmosphere
Age Level: 12-14
It's always hard to adjust to a family move — leaving behind friends and making new ones. It's even harder if you're Aurora, and your family is moving to the moon to help populate a small colony there.
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel
Age Level: 14-16
Teenager Kip Russell dreams of space travel, but what happens when alien "Wormfaces", hostile to Eerth and humanity, kidnap him and force him to stand trial for humanity's disregard for peace and the environment?
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream
Age Level: 9-12
1961. Nearly two decades before Sally Ride — there was Jerrie Cobb. Cobb was one of the top female pilots in the country and completed all the astronaut testing the Mercury 7 men did. She excelled at all the tests. Proved she had the Right Stuff. Twelve other female pilots followed her, passing the tests they took with flying colors. When they were told there was no room for women in the space program, they took they're cause to Congress.
Dragonwings
Age Level: 9-12
Moon Shadow joins his father, traveling from China to San Francisco in the early 20th century. Together father and son confront harsh prejudice as well as kindness, and ultimately follow a dream to build a flying machine in this Newbery Honor novel.
