This is one of the better nonfiction space compendiums I've seen for this age group. It avoids the norm of being an encyclopedia-like book that just lists facts in a predicable path from the Sun to the Kuiper belt. How to Be a Space Explorer addresses you, the reader, with the important information you'll need to know in order to make your own space journey. Taking a comparative planetology approach to its 160 fact-filled pages, it moves all over the solar system as it discusses different themes: distances, rockets, landings, rovers, asteroids, moons, volcanoes, oceans, etc. When it was published in 2014 it was very up-to-date and comprehensive, including such recent missions as Juno, Chang'e 3 and Yutu, and Rosetta, and featuring recent science results from missions like Cassini and Kepler. The photos and art are well-chosen (no lazy old recycled photo selections here) and the design is engaging. ( )