First published 2013
Alex Heart stares at the spring sky of 1947, when space remains a mystery waiting to be unlocked. The eleven-year-old and her brother Chuck refuse to accept that the stars lie beyond their grasp. They construct their own rocket, determined to prove otherwise. Alex meets Captain Ebbs, an army scientist developing space food and descendant of Captain John Smith. She brings Chuck into their growing circle of dreamers. Their shared passion for rockets leads them to encounter Dr. Wernher von Braun, the German scientist pioneering American rocketry. The siblings sail down the Potomac River toward the Chesapeake, where a classified rocket launch awaits. Each adventure pulls Alex and Chuck deeper into the dangerous, exhilarating world of early space exploration. They discover that reaching for the stars demands more courage than they imagined, but the dream burns too bright to abandon.
Genres: science-fiction, historical-fiction, adventure, young-adult
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, reaching-for-the-stars
Setting: Chesapeake, Potomac River
Period: 1947
224 pages · Paperback · Yearling