Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Author: Mary Roach

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2010: With her wry humor and inextinguishable curiosity, Mary Roach has crafted her own quirky niche in the somewhat staid world of science writing, showing no fear (or shame) in the face of cadavers, ectoplasm, or sex. In Packing for Mars, Roach tackles the strange science of space travel, and the psychology, technology, and politics that go into sending a crew into orbit. Roach is unfailingly inquisitive (Why is it impolite for astronauts to float upside down during conversations? Just how smelly does a spacecraft get after a two week mission?), and she eagerly seeks out the stories that don’t make it onto NASA’s website–from SPCA-certified space suits for chimps, to the trial-and-error approach to crafting menus during the space program’s early years (when the chefs are former livestock veterinarians, taste isn’t high on the priority list). Packing for Mars is a book for grownups who still secretly dream of being astronauts, and Roach lives it up on their behalf–weightless in a C-9 aircraft, she just can’t resist the opportunity to go “Supermanning” around the cabin. Her zeal for discovery, combined with her love of the absurd, amazing, and stranger-than-fiction, make Packing for Mars an uproarious trip into the world of space travel. –Lynette Mong

Hardcover: 334 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (August 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393068471
ISBN-13: 978-0393068474
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches

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Girls That Growl [Amazon]

girls that growl
On Amazon:

Third in Mancusi’s hip, sassy vampire series, featuring the heroine of Stake That!
She’s a vampire. She’s also a vampire slayer. (It’s a long story.) And now Rayne McDonald, Goth girl, has to carry out her most deviant mission yet: trying out for the cheerleading squad.

Rayne already has enough on her plate: her twin keeps whining about whether or not to go all the way; her mom’s boyfriend is moving in; and her man, Jareth, who’s now allowed out in the sun, has turned from a dark, brooding hottie vamp into a surfer dude.

But this vampire slayer is still on the clock, and she has a new assignment. A member of the football team has disappeared-and her bosses at Slayer Inc. think the cheerleaders had something to do with it. Now they want her to infiltrate the squad and get the dirt. But first, she’ll need an extreme prep makeover. If only they’d let her wear fishnets under that revolting uniform.

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About the Author
Marianne Mancusi works as a television news producer for the NBC station in Boston and has won two Emmys.

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Berkley Trade (October 2, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0425217167
  • ISBN-13: 978-0425217160
  • Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches

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Best Review [by Rhonda Wilson]:

In the third installment of Mancusi’s Blood Coven Vampire series, Rayne is faced with her biggest challenge yet. As “the slayer”, her newest task is to figure out why it is that the cheerleading squad is growling. In order to do so she must get close to the cheerleaders, and as ANY teenager knows, the only way to get close to a cheerleader is to BE a cheerleader! Rayne seeks out her sister Sunny’s help in a “prep” makeover so that she can try out for the cheerleading squad in hopes of becoming one of their new members. From there she must figure out exactly where the growling is coming fro, and find a resolution.

Mari Mancusi has created yet another fun adventure with Girls That Growl. The characters of Rayne and Sunny are hilarious and I love how they tend to use their “twin powers” to reverse their roles whenever it helps them out of a situation. They are such opposites, yet they always manage to pull it off. There is still a lot more that can be done with this series and I think Mancusi will go far with it. She is a very strong storyteller and has a unique writing technique. The story of Rayne and Sunny is fun for all ages, not just teenagers. Highly Recommended.

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