Countdown

I thought that the book Countdown by Ben Mikaelsen was a good book. It tells the story of a young boy named Elliot who is chosen to be the first junior astronaut in space. Meanwhile Vincent, a young Maasai boy from Africa, is figuring out how the world works. While Elliot is in space his job is to t......more

I think this was a 3.5 star book. I did not appreciate the use of the word "ghetto" (twice, I believe), to describe...who? Black people? Disadvantaged or poor people? The term was outdated when the book was written, not sure how it made it to print. The details about going to space were extensive, but......more

A relaxing read that has just a bit of action and suspense. I thought it was clever to make the two protagonists both from cultures where cattle-raising is very important. I think the coming-of-age aspect was implemented more effectively with Vincent the Maasai teenager than with Elliot the American......more

This book was alright. I read it in middle school (the pace we read it was a little hard to keep up with). It was certainly interesting to learn about astronaut-training and Maasai-culture, and it was intriguing when Elliot and Vincent finally make radio-contact, but the story felt somewhat slow ove......more

Ok so I read this as a kid. But counting it as a new book because it had been YEARS......more