Have Space Suit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein

Technically, this is a juvenile, aimed at a somewhat lower age group than young adult. But this is such a great story, and from one of the great science fiction writers, that I think it has to be included.

Have Space Suit, Will Travel, is the story of Kip. Kip wins a contest and by way of a prize is given a used spacesuit. Weeks later, after completely reconditioning the suit, he is out taking a final walk in the suit before selling it to pay for college expenses, he hears a mayday from someone calling themselves Peewee. Within a few moments, Kip is captured by two unscrupulous men who are working with even nastier aliens, and is trying to save Peewee, a young girl, and the Mother Thing, yet another species of alien. Both Peewee and the Mother Thing have been kidnapped by the bad aliens, and a good part of the story is Kipp doing what he can to try to save the two of them.

This is a story in the grand tradition of science fiction -- good guys and bad guys, good aliens and bad aliens, a world saved, a world lost, and entirely believable characters in both Kip and Peewee. It also foreshadows some of the types of characters we see later in Heinlein's writing -- Kip is an extremely capable engineer/mechanic, though he has only just graduated high school. Peewee is a strong young girl, capable and smart, though she sometimes gets into more than she can handle. It does have some anachronisms. The contest Kipp enters involves sending in soap labels. Kipp works at a very 1950 style drugstore. But once Kip gets into space, the anachronisms, if there are any, are easily ignored.

For me, there has always seemed to be a bit of romance in the story as well. By the end of the story, Kip and Peewee like each other a lot, and while he's much too old for her at the time the story ends, let a few years go by and the age doesn't matter so much anymore. But maybe that's just me.. :-)

I have nothing bad to say about this book. It can be enjoyed by anyone, from preteen to adult, and is simply a very good read from an acknowledged master of science fiction. Very highly recommended.

Rating 10/10