First sentence: I tapped my clock for the millionth time: 12:06 a.m. The numbers flashed off like they always did. As if they were mad I'd woken them up.

Premise/plot: Astrid, the protagonist, dreams of being the first astronaut in space with hearing aids. Space is literally all she thinks about. Okay, not fair exactly. She also emphatically wants her friend, Hallie, to be equally obsessed with space and to share the exact same hopes and dreams--Shooting Stars club, Space Camp, Space. But this third grader is to be disappointed in part. Her best friend wants art club, not the Shooting Stars. And she doesn't seem interested at all--not even a little bit--in listening to her friend talk about space. (Did she ever?) So if friendship is important to Astrid, perhaps it's time to make new friends in Shooting Stars.

My thoughts: I liked this one. It has potential. I don't regret my time reading it by any means. I would probably check out other books from the library in this series. I'm not sure I'd be terribly upset if the library didn't order them all. But it was enjoyable enough. I think future books might have more story. ( )

Astronaut dreams mix with friendship and determination in a fun chapter book with a character, who promises so much more adventure to come.

Astrid and her best friend have grand plans to become astronauts, but without a single word, the best friend backs out and leaves Astrid to tackle the first year of the Shooting Stars club alone. Astrid feels like a lost asteroid but is still determined to be the best in the club and win a scholarship, although third graders are said never to win. Her hopes, though, quickly go into free-fall as she's faced with a new partner and can't seem to get a peep out of her, maybe, ex-bestie.

This is a fun tale about a girl, who has a dream and is ready to fight for it. It's very realistic as she joins the after-school space club and tries to solve the given puzzles...all which are realistic for the age group. She comes across as a very normal girl, who could be in any classroom. She does have difficulties hearing and wears as hearing aide, but that only makes her more interesting. It's by no means the main plot or aspect of the story, which made it come across extremely natural. Plus, it makes her dream that much more worth rooting for.

The story flows very smoothly and doesn't hold any boring moments. The problems never dig in overly deep, keeping it right at the intended age group's level. There are lovely illustrations peppered through the pages, which not only offer fun for readers but help bring across Astrid better. It's great for those readers, who have a good grip on words, but aren't ready to dive into even lower, middle grade reads quite yet.

Of course, there are messages of friendship, including finding new friends and accepting that interests change, but these slide right in with the rest of the tale. And there's the STEM aspect, too, with little bits of general information sprinkled in here and there. It's a great start to a new series and already has me excited to see where Astrid's journey will take her next. I received an ARC and found this to be an easy, fun read. ( )

Astrid cannot wait to go back to school : this year she is joining the Shooting Stars, a space club that will allow her to go to Space Camp and one day to realize her dream to become an astronaut. The best thing is, she is going to do all that with her best friend Hallie. But once school begins, the plan doesn’t go as expected : Hallie is joining another club !

I really loved Astrid’s adventures. Rie Neal wrote an empowering STEM-themed chapter book, whose heroine knows what she wants. She encounters problems that will talk to young readers : new classmates, fear of losing old friends and concern to not succeed at school. I love how the book is inclusive. Young Astrid is hard of hearing and uses hearing aids, which doesn’t stop her from having big dreams and working hard to realize them.

The Astrid the Astronaut book series shares a very strong message with young readers. ( )