Parents' Guide to

One Small Step

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Absurd premise yields a thrilling story.

One Small Step Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

age 2+

Based on 1 parent review

age 2+

not rated r nothing bad

nothing bad in the flim

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (2 ):

OK, granted, there's a huge suspension of disbelief to get over with this book. NASA secretly sending a boy and two chimps to land on the moon before Apollo 11 has to be one of the most absurd premises ever. The author compounds this with references to possible UFOs, a mystical encounter in the last part of the story, and an Author's Note that claims much of the Apollo program is "still shrouded in secrecy" and that no one really knows when the chimp program was discontinued. Even fans of Tom Swift may have to take a deep breath before swallowing all of that.

And yet ... take the leap, and you'll find an immensely enjoyable, exciting, engrossing story, the stuff of hours of childhood fantasy. Scott and the chimps are appealing characters, and the details are as grounded in scientific and historical reality as the premise is not. Scott is a boy's boy in the '50s series-book mold: stalwart, vastly competent and levelheaded, openhearted, and calmly willing to defy adult authority to do things his way, outwitting them at every turn. This is nearly perfect summer reading -- ridiculous escapism at its purest.

Book Details

  • Author: P. B. Kerr
  • Genre: Science Fiction
  • Book type: Fiction
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Publication date: June 1, 2008
  • Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 14
  • Number of pages: 309
  • Last updated: July 12, 2017

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