The Diary of a Space Traveller and other Stories

The Diary of a Space Traveller and other Stories
Author: Satyajit Ray
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2015-07-05
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 8184753306

It all began with the fall of a meteorite and the crater it made. In its centre was a red notebook, sticking out of the ground—the first (or was it really the last?) of Professor Shonku’s diaries. Professor Trilokeshwar Shonku, eccentric genius and scientist, disappeared without a trace after he shot off into space in a rocket from his backyard in Giridih, accompanied by his loyal but not-toointelligent servant Prahlad, his cat Newton, and Bidhushekhar, his robot with an attitude. What has become of the professor? Has he decided to stay on in Mars, his original destination? Or has he found his way to some other planet and is living there with strange companions? His last diary tells an incredible story . . . Other diaries unearthed from his abandoned laboratory reveal stranger and even more exciting adventures involving a ferocious sadhu, a revengeful mummy and a mad scientist in Norway who turns famous men into six-inch statues. Exciting, imaginative and funny, the stories in this collection capture the sheer magic of Ray’s lucid language, elegant style, graphic descriptions and absurd humour. The indomitable Professor Shonku has returned, to win himself over a whole new band of followers!

X-15 Diary

X-15 Diary
Author: Richard Tregaskis
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2004-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780803294561

Built of titanium and a chrome-nickel alloy known as Inconel X, the X-15 was the fastest plane ever built, streaking through the lower reaches of outer space even before the first space capsules reached orbit. First tested in 1959, the X-15 proved to be a crucial testing ground for the astronauts and hardware in the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and even the Space Shuttle programs. ø The dramatic tale of the golden age of this experimental plane comes vividly to life through the writing of the celebrated reporter Richard Tregaskis, who spent time with the pilots, engineers, and other key personnel involved in the project. We learn of the years of planning and design, devastating onboard explosions, exhilarating triumphs, and, above all, the personal and professional sacrifices that paved the way for the enduring legacy of the blisteringly fast X-15 rocket plane.

The Star Diaries

The Star Diaries
Author: Stanisław Lem
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 275
Release: 1990-01
Genre:
ISBN: 9780749304720

@Ijon Tichy, Lem's Candide of the Cosmos, encounters bizarre civilizations and creatures in space that serve to satirize science, the rational mind, theology, and other icons of human pride. Line drawings by the Author. Translated by Michael Kandel. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book@@

Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space

Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space
Author: Dominic Walliman
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-02-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 183874987X

Blast off with this new edition in the first book in the best selling Professor Astro Cat series! Featuring updated details about how rockets work, recent missions to Mars, space junk, and black holes. “Conducted by a cat in a retro-futuristic space suit, this tour of the solar system and beyond earns style points for both its illustrations and its selection of “Factoroids.” -Kirkus Reviews "Cute characters (such as the titular Professor Astro Cat and his assistant Astro Mouse) give a humorous, conversational tone to this nonfiction book's information about space, our solar system, and changing space exploration technology. Like the text, the book's browsable layout encourages readers to keep exploring. Overall, a great book to nurture interest in and wonder at the infinite possibilities of space." -The Horn Book "Both modern in its scientific spirit and with a sensibility modeled after the delightful mid-century children’s books from the Golden Age of space exploration, it tickles young readers - as well as their space-enchanted parents - into precisely that “palpable zest to make contact with the cosmos.” -Brain Pickings Professor Astro Cat is the smartest cat in the alley. He's got a degree in just about every discipline under the sun! Speaking of the sun, he happens to be specialist on that too, and Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space will tell you everything that there could be to know about our star, our planet, our solar system, our galaxy, our universe, and many more new insights into the ever-developing science of space and the outer reaches of the universe! The professor's made sure of that; he's a fastidious little feline! Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space also explores topics such as gravity, extraterrestrial life, time, and many other fascinating subjects that will take you and your children on a journey to the very frontiers of space!

The Unicorn Expedition

The Unicorn Expedition
Author: Satyajit Ray
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2004-06-21
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 8184758391

Professor Shonku cannot dismiss without proof the possibility that unicorns do exist somewhere on earth. In fact, Charles Willard, a fellow scientist, claimed to have actually seen them in Tibet, but, unfortunately, died shortly afterwards. So, when Shonku learns that another expedition is starting off for Tibet, he jumps at the opportunity to trace Willard's route and find the unicorns. Tibet is just one of the exotic places Professor Shonku's exploits take him in this volume of stories. In the Sahara he comes face to face with a massive pyramid-like structure no one knew of earlier; he travels underwater in a submarine with two Japanese scientists to investigate the sudden appearance of deadly red fish that have taken to eating humans; in the caves of Bolivia he meets a primitive man who has been painting his dwelling with animal figures and strange mathematical formulae; and on a peculiar island which has appeared out of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean horrific plants suck out all his learning from his brain

Puffin Classics

Puffin Classics
Author: Satyajit Ray
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2021-05-02
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9390914531

Celebrating 100 years of Satyajit Ray A classic keepsake edition, featuring 12 fascinating stories by a master storyteller Featuring Ray's original artwork Another Dozen Stories brings to you the magical, bizarre, spooky and sometimes astonishing worlds created by Satyajit Ray, featuring an extraordinary bunch of characters! While 'The McKenzie Fruit' trails a humble man trying to leave his mark in history, 'Worthless' is a moving story about a seemingly hapless character not quite able to win the confidence of his family. Meet Professor Hijibijbij, the eccentric scientist bent on creating living replicas of peculiar creatures and follow Master Angshuman into a nail-biting and unexpected adventure on the sets of his very first film. This collection includes twelve hair-raising stories that will leave you asking for more! Translated for the very first time into English by noted translator Indrani Majumdar, this edition is a tribute to Ray's immaculate literary genius and a gift for his many fans and followers on the centenary of his birth.

Diary of an Apprentice Astronaut

Diary of an Apprentice Astronaut
Author: Samantha Cristoforetti
Publisher: The Experiment, LLC
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2021-08-31
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1615198431

Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s intimate account of her first journey to the International Space Station, to which she returns in 2022, as commander of Expedition 68a—only the fourth woman to command the ISS, praised by Scott Kelly for its “incredible detail and great writing.” Two hundred days orbiting Earth on the International Space Station. Five years working and training with the aerospace community across the world. A lifetime of choices leading to the stars. These are the components of Samantha Cristoforetti’s dream, a dream she invites us to share in this intimate account of an astronaut’s journey to space. She views the triumphs and disappointments of that journey with a poet’s eye and a philosopher’s mind—and an engineer’s gift for detail that brings each experience into sharp focus. With Cristoforetti as our guide, we’re called to become “apprentice astronauts” and experience the world anew through the visor of a space suit’s helmet. Bonding with crew members to tackle challenges as a team, lifting off from the launchpad in a roar of engines, discovering the strange wonders of weightlessness, seeing Earth with a fresh perspective after a bittersweet return to solid ground . . . all these moments and more reveal what it really takes to escape our planet’s gravity in pursuit of a goal.

If I Were an Astronaut

If I Were an Astronaut
Author: Eric Braun
Publisher: Capstone
Total Pages: 14
Release: 2010
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1404855343

Discusses activities astronauts do while they're in space.

Sometimes I Lie

Sometimes I Lie
Author: Alice Feeney
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2018-03-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1250144833

ALICE FEENEYS NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER “Boldly plotted, tightly knotted—a provocative true-or-false thriller that deepens and darkens to its ink-black finale. Marvelous.” —AJ Finn, author of The Woman in the Window My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 1. I’m in a coma. 2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I lie. Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

The Night Diary

The Night Diary
Author: Veera Hiranandani
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2018-03-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0735228531

A 2019 NEWBERY HONOR BOOK "A gripping, nuanced story of the human cost of conflict appropriate for both children and adults." -Kirkus, starred review In the vein of Inside Out and Back Again and The War That Saved My Life comes a poignant, personal, and hopeful tale of India's partition, and of one girl's journey to find a new home in a divided country It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together. Told through Nisha's letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl's search for home, for her own identity...and for a hopeful future.