APPLETON, Victor II - Tom Swift and his Rocket Ship - [Tom Swift Jr. # ] - (Hardcover)

Book still in a good condition Pages somewhat yellowed - Wrapper very poor - Google image used.  >>>   I gave this book 5 stars mostly because of the wow factor. The Tom Swift books are filled with technical jargon and inventions that young readers, especially boys, will love. The books are Science Fiction. Possibly some of these things are now possible. The author certainly makes you think that they were feasible in 1954 when it was published! From an adult- a mother's and grandmother's point of view- I can't imagine allowing an 18 year-old boy, I don't care how smart he is, go off into uncharted space in a very complex rocket ship that he built! Untested, basically.    -   So- the race to space is on. The first person (team) to manage to orbit the earth in space for 2 hours will win a prize of $100,000! A huge, huge amount in 1954, I'm sure. Tom is game. He has been working on a rocket. Now, I don't know anything about rocket building but the techno things sound possible to me and they are terms that I have heard before- payload rockets, sequencing of parts that will fall away as the rocket is lifted beyond the atmosphere. etc. Other things in this book made me laugh. Outer space beings have been communicating with the Swifts at their lab using strange symbols. They are from Mars! Really? Did we think there might be life on Mars in 1954? Mr. Swift is able to figure out what they are saying. These beings can escape the gravity of their planet, have a faster spaceship, and figured out how to send messages to another planet that they realized was inhabited but they cannot figure out how to get through earth's atmosphere. And NASA (did they exist then?) or the government did not place a secrecy gag on the Swifts about the aliens. Well, back to the story. Other governments are trying to reach space first to win the prize. And there is a space pirate (of course!) who tries over and over to sabotage Tom's space craft and/or ruin his chances.  (Linda on Goodreads)     * Science Fiction * Teen Reading * Collectable *