All Systems Whoa

Abby in Orbit #3

by Andrea J. Loney, Andrea J. Loney

Good Housekeeping 2023 Kids' Book Award Winner How can Abby Baxter prove she's not a Bad Baxter, but an Awesome Abby? On Career Day, Abby Baxter's classmates are excited to learn about all the jobs adults do on the space station. But Abby has no idea what her career should be—next to her brilliant doctor parents, she always feels like a Bad Baxter. Even worse, she makes a few mistakes that cause systems on the space station to start going haywire. Can Abby untangle the mess and find her own strengths?

Genres: Childrens

96 pages, Hardcover

Published September 28, 2023

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

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid chapter book choice for readers in grades 2-4 with plenty of space science and fantasy built in. Abby lives on the imaginary Oasis International Space Station with her parents and little brother. Each installment combines typical situations a young girl would experience at home and school with more creative ones that may become reality when our science progresses enough that whole communities live and work in space.

In this 3rd, stand alone, installment, Abby is feeling a great deal of pressure to become a scientist like both of her parents and today’s Career Day reinforces that she is not leaning that direction. The rotation between various engineering duty stations causes her not only a far amount of stress but the opportunity to make and fix a somewhat small mistake that results in a great many bigger problems.

Abby’s personality is very fleshed out and students should have a clear idea of her personality, preferences and behaviors but as with most chapter books, the simplicity and brevity do not allow many of the supporting characters to become as well-developed. This particular installment does a great job of presenting many possible career opportunities that are possible today and will only become more critical when space travel is commonplace and may encourage young readers to consider a STEM field as part of their future.

Recommended for libraries serving grades 2-4. Representation: Abby is Hispanic-Black, friends Dmitry and Gracie present as having Russian and AAPI backgrounds. Text is free of profanity, sexual content and violence.

[Vilma Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is good for kids to know that sometimes you mess up, but through honesty and owning up to your mistakes, problems and troublesome situations can be resolved. At the same time, Abby doesn’t do one or two things wrong. She messes up endlessly and excessively. By the end, I was surprised she didn’t kill everyone on the space station. Seriously, the only reason nobody died is because this isn’t that type of book.

This is the third book in the series. I wasn’t originally planning to read the fourth book, but if I had been, this volume would have stopped me. I found Abby a little too annoying in this one. And like I said, she was a safety hazard to everyone else on the space station. If this book were even a little realistic, she would be getting sent back to earth. Some people apparently just do not belong in space.

[Ms. Woc Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another great addition to this series that has really found it's footing now. As always this book has just the right balance of fun adventures in space to keep readers engaged while also sprinkling in real life facts. Kids get an insight into what kind of jobs these scientists do as Abby contemplates her own path during Career Day. In addition to the very realistic depiction of life on the International Space Station there's also great family dynamics. Abby's mother is Afro-Latinx and she speaks some Spanish to them.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abby and her friends are back and looking forward to Career Day. Abby is a bit nervous as she doesn't know what she wants to do when she grows up and feels like the only one who doesn't. The day does not go smoothly but Abby figures out how to fix the glitches she caused and apologizes to everyone. I'm not sold on the pressure her mom puts on her to follow her career path but the characters continue to be developed.

[Margaret Boling · Rating 4 out of 5]

11/7/2023 ~ Not quite as good as the first two books in the series (it was a bit harder to follow Abby's mistakes and mishaps.) However, still a good addition to the library.