Blast Off!

Abby in Orbit #1

by Andrea J. Loney, Fuuji Takashi (Illustrator)

2022 Foreword INDIES Finalist - Juvenile Fiction As Abby gets used to life in space, can she keep the things that are most important to her from drifting away?

It's the first day of third grade, and Abby Baxter is determined not to make any mistakes. It's a little trickier than it was last year, though, because Abby is starting school on the OASIS International Space Station, where her parents are scientists. Abby is so focused on getting used to microgravity, watching her little brother, Nico, and meeting her new classmates that she almost messes up Mami’s big experiment. Can she figure out how to make things right, or is she destined to be sent back to Earth?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Fiction, Space

96 pages, Hardcover

Published November 22, 2022

About the author

Andrea J. Loney grew up in a small town in New Jersey and received her MFA in dramatic writing from New York University. Since then, she has worked various jobs, from screenwriter to toy designer to software trainer, and she even ran away to live with a circus. Today Andrea spends most of her time writing the kind of books that she wishes had been available when she was a child—stories that embrace and reflect the humanity of all children. She lives with her partner, their two cats, and a betta fish in Los Angeles, California. Visit her online at andreajloney.com.

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite enjoyable! It’s a cute chapter book series that highlights the experiences of Afro-Latina main character Abby as she navigates life on a space station. It had wonderful illustrations and showcased great themes like friendship, cooperation, compassion, and more. I definitely will be checking out the other books in this series. This is perfect for ages 7-9 readers who are interested in STEM based books.

[Ms. Woc Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great introduction to a new series. I received a finished copy for review from Albert Whitman and I was excited to read it because I was looking for a fun and easy to read story for my niece. Abby is Afro Latinx so it's nice to see that rep in this space environment. I like how it introduces little facts about space without being overwhelming or info dumpy.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admit when you were wrong too adults! (Sooner though)

Even moms make mistakes. I knew her mom grabbed hers off the charger and thought she would have said something sooner. She could have taken some of the heat off Abby. They should have told the kids if you need me scenario this is what you do.

[Devin Redmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

I missed this series when it first came out in 2022. It’s cute! Think Junie B. Jones reading level, but with a science fiction and more multicultural slant.
Set in 2051, 𝘈𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘖𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵: 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘖𝘧𝘧! stars Abby Baxter’s family who are presented as Black and Latino. They live on the OASIS International Space Station. And just like kids on Earth, Abby is nervous to start 3rd grade at a new school. Add the fact that she accidentally takes her mom’s very important tablet instead of her own, and you’ve got yourself quite the first day.
I love all the little science-y tidbits, the glossary, and the “Real Science” section at the end. I also liked how people at the space station are from all over the world, the messages of teamwork, trying new things, and apologizing.
This book would work for kindergarten + but I think it would be helpful for a teacher or caregiver to read the first one aloud so the kids would understand what’s going on in terms of the setting.

[Kirsten Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby is living in 2051 in a space station with her mom, dad, and little brother, Nico. She is starting third grade in the space station's special school with two classmates. Abby is determined to make her parents proud and be super organized. When her mom takes the wrong tablet to work and Abby unknowingly takes the wrong tablet to school, Abby decides to switch them out before anyone notices. Suddenly, she and her classmates are on a secret mission to get into the lab and switch the tablets before anyone notices that they are missing from school.
This is a really fun read in a new world with different languages and cultures. The illustrations bring the text to life and I really enjoyed reading it. Abby may use percentages 150 percent of the time which is a little much, but third graders do that sometimes. Kids will delight in this new series and I can't wait to read the next ones.

[Munchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

School in space! This is a story of the Baxters, mainly Abby as she is invited up to the space station her parents work at, to start living with them. And in the first installment, Abby is introduced to her classroom and classmates. She befriends one, Gracie, and is iffy about a boy named Dimitri who is a bit mean to her at first.

The world building this far has been delightful. Kids are up in space learning things. Not sure what her parents are researching just yet but there is room to advance the series further. Nico is Abby's little brother and her parents are mixed race where her mom uses Spanish sometimes.

I liked the characters, the lessons the kids had to learn and what it means to be a team. I had fun reading about Abby, and saw her as a down to earth type of girl. She's kind, she makes mistakes but most of all, she's 150 percent awesome!

[Vilma Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book. It's Abby's first day of third grade. The difference is that her first day of third grade happens on a space station. When her tablet and her mom's get mixed up on the day of of a big presentation at her mom's job, she has to return it to her before anyone finds out.

I like that the family is Afro-Latino. It was a pleasant surprise since I don't really see this in too many books. It's a diverse bunch of characters in general, which is to be expected given that the book is set in an international space station, but it's again a nice surprise.

I'm glad Abby was able to learn a lesson, and we got to see communication between her and her mom at the end. I also liked the notes at the end of the book, which included a page for vocabulary and another for space facts. I'm looking forward to the next book.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life on a space station--school now available there, so scientist parents are working together, and the family is reunited. Abby's starting 3rd grade. All 13 kids go to school together, broken into smaller groups, and she wants to make a good impression and be taken seriously, but a tablet mixup with her mom leads to a "unscheduled field trip" with new friend, Gracie Chen, and a potential enemy, starchy Dmitry.

Abby is proud of her Black parents and how well-known and respected they are in their work. She doesn't want to let them down by being immature or disorganized--she and her little brother Nico might be sent back to Earth, to her Nana.

Interesting details of life in near-zero gravity included in the text and in an appended bit, incl glossary. This will be a fun series.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This new chapter book series features a near-future situation in which two scientist parents are able to include their two young children in an extended stay on a a large space station. This includes schooling and other aspects of daily life that will take a futuristic plot and make it feel more familiar to young readers.
As well, the situations of confusion and blame, sibling disagreements, school tasks, and parental concerns will feel familiar and make this exciting, diverse adventure feel easy to imagine and connect with as readers engage with the characters and their problems.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in the future. Abby and her brother Nico join her parents on the Oasis International Space Station. It's an adjustment for Abby and she makes some mistakes along the way. Loney portrays her as overly energetic and excited. This causes issues as she doesn't listen or think through actions. I did not care for her being blamed for the tablet mix up when it was clearly identified that she took the last remaining tablet. Her mom should have spoken up sooner or realized her error. Since this is the first book, we may see more from the characters in the remaining books.

[Great Books]

Abby is one of the lucky few kids to be going to school on a space station! In this new series by Andrea J. Loney, Abby must learn how to tackle more then just the first day of third grade - she must learn to make new friends, adapt to microgravity and try not to ruin her mother's science experiments. Can she learn how to be a member of the OASIS team or will her parents send her back to Earth to live with her grandparents?
Reviewer #17

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby is settling into her new life with her family on the space station Oasis. She wants to make sure she does not make any mistakes, because she wants to stay with her parents. However, and unexpected event on her first day of pod school leads her on an adventure that might just jeopardize things. I am looking for a sci-fi title for my younger grades book club, and I think this one will be a good title to present to the group

[Themountainbookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic early chapter book. It could be considered a soft launch into the sci fi genre for kids. The illustrations really help kids visualize a space station. I appreciated all of the small details the author included to help the whole setting feel real. This book is great for every kid ready to start branching out on reading on their own. The book highlights teamwork and the importance of talking out your problems. I’m excited to read the next book in the series.

[SamSamSam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storytelling, characterization, and premise are great. I was soooo frustrated with the plot though. I don't enjoy when an entire story only works because the kids are not asking their trusted adults for help (which, is that even realistic? I really don't know), and then they get into way more trouble than necessary. Do kids like these plot lines? Maybe this is just a me problem. The dialogue was also a bit contrived. So I have super mixed feelings about this book -3 stars for me.

[Cedar · Rating 2 out of 5]

We thought this book was fun to imagine having school in outer space, it was a fun setting. We thought the problem in the story was silly/lame-- the whole plot was her freaking out that she accidentally took her mom's i pad and then her trying to get it back without anyone knowing. We thought she could have just been honest and there could have been a cooler dilemma to solve in the book. It was fun seeing how much her mom loved her at the end of the book.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly simple story of a third grader's first day of school in space, though there is some light humor and expressive illustrations that move it along. The characters are interesting even if it's not very action-packed; perhaps further series installments will lead to more space adventures.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because it was a Washington state Otter book. I just wasn't impressed. So she goes through all the trouble of putting her moms tablet back by sneaking out of school and getting her friends in trouble. I would have let my teacher know I couldn't do my reading and go from there. Her mom would have been notified and that would be that.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Because I'm definitely not the target demographic for this book, I think that the juvenile conclusions that Abby jumped to hindered my enjoyment of this book. That being said, I can see this book being of interest for kids who are into space and want to live vicariously through someone who does.

[Jennybeast · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute book! Abby and her family are believable, relatable, and in spaaaaaace. It's a great storyline for beginning readers, the illustrations are excellent, and Abby and her new friends are going to be fun to follow.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Positives: a multicultural crew in space! Realistic relationships and difficulty to overcome.
Negative: The problem would have been easily fixed if she had just told her teacher about the tablet mix-up.

[Becky clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spaaaaaaaace!

It was a pretty short book, but we liked it!
I just love space! The whole book is about space!

[Jennifer M Outlaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute book that my 9yr old thoroughly enjoyed. He is looking forward to reading more books about Abby’s adventures.

[Deborah Zeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book about a 3rd graders first day of school on the OASIS space station. Not as sci-fi as I would have imagined, but a good introduction. Lessons learned: teamwork and patience.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book with science and cool characters.

[Audrey | WellReadandUndead(ish) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did a wonderful job of representing first-day of school anxieties, how to work together with others even when you don't like them, and is a genuinely interesting story about space school.

I think there was a little too much focus on the underwear of Abby, and it felt uncomfortable. It didn't even feel believable as a thing to be made fun of considering no one should be seeing her underwear? Just an odd choice.

[Abby Rubin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby is starting third grade on the OASIS International Space Station. She doesn't want to be a baby but it's also hard to start at a new school. Her mom and dad are hard at work doing important science stuff and her brother is having an easy time making new friends. Abby gets into a bit of trouble when she realizes that she accidentally switched tablets with her mom at breakfast and wants to solve the problem herself. A great first chapter book for eager readers. First in a series.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby is moving to a multicultural space station with her family and she’s a little nervous about it. As she’s settling in and trying to do her first school assignment on her tablet, she finds that she has her mother’s tablet rather than her own. She’s worried about getting in trouble and standing out during class so she decides to just slip out (with a classmate) and try to exchange the tablets without anyone else finding out. Another student joins them and the three students work together and get the job done, but get caught on their way back to class. Soon the whole station knows and the children need to explain, apologize, and learn to make better choices next time. Abby fears she’ll be sent back to Earth with Nana, but her mom assures her that they are all in this new life together. Black and white illustrations help bring this futuristic space station to life and the emotive and adorable pictures are highly enjoyable. I received an uncorrected proof and anticipate errors and omissions will be corrected in the final copy.

[Esme · Rating 3 out of 5]

OTTER Award nominee. Read for work, in preparation for third grade book talks.