Richard M. Elam 2 hr 42 min read

A curious boy voyages beyond the Earth, first to the Moon, then onward through the perils of space toward the new world of Mars, braving pelting meteors and an invisible menace along the way.

Richard M. Elam's 1953 juvenile novel is a rousing boys' space-adventure. Fast, clean, imaginative. Read it for a wholesome 1950s-style interplanetary journey, a young hero's wonder-filled trip to Mars by way of the Moon, in the bright, optimistic style of the era's juvenile science fiction, made to thrill young readers with the marvels of space travel.

In its time

Published in 1953, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

2 hr 42 min read (a novel-length work, settle in).

Illustrated by

Charles Geer