A classic novel from the mind of the storyteller who captures the imagination of readers from around the world, and across two generations ...
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Apr 20, 2011
Joel
rated it: 
PUBLISHER: R.H., we just got done reading your new book, and I have to say, bravo. This is your best one yet! The young boys of 1958 are going to love it. Heck, I love it. The whole setup was so clever, with the boy entering a jingle-writing contest for soap to win a trip to the moon? My wife really got a kick out of that -- i told her about it when she was washing dishes last night and she couldn't stop laughing! She sure does love soap commercials.
And having the boy win a spacesui More...
And having the boy win a spacesui More...
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Dec 16, 2009
Illyria
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A librarian friend of mine suggested this as my introduction to Heinlein and I was not disappointed. Apart from the delicious technical details of making a spacesuit work; faster than light travels to Pluto, to the Magellanic Cloud, and beyond; the horrors of being held hostage by an alien race that views other sentient beings as animals; another alien race with indefinable, changeable physical form and the ability to convey the kind of warmth, peace and comfort of being mothered feels like; th
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Sep 28, 2011
Henry
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Clifford "Kip" Russell, a teenager ,wants to go to the Moon.Set in the future, when Lunar bases have been established(this is a science fiction book). Centerville High Schooler, part time soda jerk, from a poor family, enters a soap company contest,literally sending thousands of slogans.First prize for best entry, is a trip to Luna .Mildly disappointed winning the second prize , an old Space Suit.His eccentric father DR. Russell, lets his son do anything he wishes ,as long as it doe
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Mar 09, 2009
Manny
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Sometimes you find a book at exactly the right point in your life. I was fortunate enough to read Have Space Suit - Will Travel when I was a geeky 12 year old boy, and I loved it. If YOU'RE a geeky 12 year old boy, there's a fair chance you'll love it too! He enters this cut-out-the-coupon-and-complete-the-slogan competition (a lot of description of how he intelligently maximizes his chances) and wins an old ex-NASA space suit. He fixes it up, and there are some great passages showing how much f
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Jul 16, 2008
Kristin
rated it: 
I decided I needed to break it into two parts - one, the story itself and two, Heinlein’s tirade against society.
Have Space Suit Will Travel is set in the 1950's and is one of his juvenile pieces of literature. Kip Russell dreams of going to the stars, and when Skyway Soap has a contest for best lingo with the prize being a trip to the Moon, Kip collects and submits 5000 entries. He doesn’t win the trip to the moon, but a space suit instead. If he returns the space suit to Goody More...
Have Space Suit Will Travel is set in the 1950's and is one of his juvenile pieces of literature. Kip Russell dreams of going to the stars, and when Skyway Soap has a contest for best lingo with the prize being a trip to the Moon, Kip collects and submits 5000 entries. He doesn’t win the trip to the moon, but a space suit instead. If he returns the space suit to Goody More...
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Feb 05, 2012
Tom
rated it: 
Nowadays this would be tagged "young adult" fare, but I read it in 5th grade. It was, actually, the first book I ever ordered through a book store. I didn't realize at the time that RAH was writing about "alien abduction" -- not sure that I knew, in 1965, what a "UFO" was anyway. But RAH was always his own man as a writer, and this book is well-crafted and well-grounded in science and technology. I learned some of my first physics (the use of the formula s=(1/2)
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Sep 30, 2011
David
rated it:
One of Heinlein's early juveniles, this one has all the elements seen throughout his juvenile series: a plucky boy hero who's always wanted to go to space, precocious girl heroine (who fortunately is too young to be mooning over boys), Father Knows Best who turns out to be a hidden genius and former Very Important Person in the government, and interesting 50ish aliens.
The thing I like about Heinlein's juveniles is that they still hold up pretty well 50 years later, if you can ignore More...
The thing I like about Heinlein's juveniles is that they still hold up pretty well 50 years later, if you can ignore More...
Jul 16, 2011
Krista
rated it:
Read it in a day; wondered aloud how the world has changed that a book like this could have been published in a magazine for boys. I mean, there was math, for cripes sake! And physics! And mechanical engineering! And no gratuitous violence!
There was violence, yes, but Heinlein seems to think math is more exciting than gore; indeed, his palpable excitement concerning all things mathematical was almost contagious. Almost. His in-depth descriptions of mechanical properties were en More...
There was violence, yes, but Heinlein seems to think math is more exciting than gore; indeed, his palpable excitement concerning all things mathematical was almost contagious. Almost. His in-depth descriptions of mechanical properties were en More...
Jun 19, 2011
Judy
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This is another of Heinlein's "juveniles", written for a Young Adult audience. Clifford is a young man who wants to go to the moon. In a tradition that spans Ray Bradbury to Stephen Spielberg, Clifford fools around in his mid-western basement, upgrading a space suit he bought by mail order. For some reason I love that. Imagine FedEx showing up in front of your house to deliver your new space suit!
One day he is trying it out in his backyard and winds up in space. With a ten-ye More...
One day he is trying it out in his backyard and winds up in space. With a ten-ye More...
May 13, 2011
Darth
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I know you arent ever supposed to speak poorly about RAH - but this is probly his weakest effort so far...
I am a HUGE fan of RAH, and I have enjoyed most of what I have read up to here. There were just some things I couldnt get past in this one.
I have read a lot of RAH, and I know the era they come from and I grant indulgence when he makes a goof on some technical point, that he couldnt have known about due to the era he was writing in...
But the "frigid winds of Plu More...
I am a HUGE fan of RAH, and I have enjoyed most of what I have read up to here. There were just some things I couldnt get past in this one.
I have read a lot of RAH, and I know the era they come from and I grant indulgence when he makes a goof on some technical point, that he couldnt have known about due to the era he was writing in...
But the "frigid winds of Plu More...
Apr 12, 2010
Bruce
rated it:
Kip Russell is working in the soda shop hoping to earn some money for college. He enters the Skyway Soap contest that promises him a trip to the moon, a place he’s always wanted to go. He calculates that he can increase his chances with more entries, so he enters a few thousand. His reward is not the grand prize, but a prize nevertheless, a used spacesuit. The spacesuit turns into Kip’s summer before college hobby. He patches it up, uses the air compressor in the garage to pressurize it, adds a
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May 09, 2009
Glenn
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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May 04, 2009
James
rated it:
This is classic bootstrap Heinlein SciFi fantasy.
The book starts out Norman Rockwell enough as soda jerk Kip Russell builds out an old space suite. He is every inch the pre-engineer. He does every calculation twice in two different ways. He knows all of the parts and how to make them if he can't buy them. Then the next thing you know, he is kidnapped by a passing alien and is swept off to an adventure on the moon. There, he attempts a rescue of a tweenie Peewee and the Mother T More...
The book starts out Norman Rockwell enough as soda jerk Kip Russell builds out an old space suite. He is every inch the pre-engineer. He does every calculation twice in two different ways. He knows all of the parts and how to make them if he can't buy them. Then the next thing you know, he is kidnapped by a passing alien and is swept off to an adventure on the moon. There, he attempts a rescue of a tweenie Peewee and the Mother T More...
Jun 10, 2011
Alex
rated it:
"Have Space Suit-Will Travel" by Robert A. Heinlein is a sci-fi novel following the exploits of Kip being abducted by aliens and having to save his own life, his new friends and eventually an entire species. There is a strong theme of perserverance throughout the story in his pre-abduction life, in his fight for survival and in many other aspects.
Kip had said,"a tough prep school back east can drill you so that you can enter Stanford, or Yale, or any of the best- but More...
Kip had said,"a tough prep school back east can drill you so that you can enter Stanford, or Yale, or any of the best- but More...
Mar 04, 2011
Brian
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I have fond memories of this book, having read this around 8th or 9th grade. Well, not really "memories" (to be honest), but vague feelings of having enjoyed this book. I remembered the basic premise: boy gets space suit, ends up in space. The specifics had long been lost. Having finished, I still love this book. Granted, the plot is cheesy, but it was (and still is) a children's book.
Heinlein has a way of capturing "fun", and sprinkling this book's pages with a lib More...
Heinlein has a way of capturing "fun", and sprinkling this book's pages with a lib More...
Oct 21, 2010
Heidi
rated it:
(sigh...) Why don't they write them like this anymore? The witty repartee, the snarky wit, and the pop-cultural references (to the 1950s), all with a little bit of hard science thrown in, made this book great despite the somewhat cheesy plot. Kip's main goal in life is to go to the moon, so while he's working on one day becoming an engineer, he enters a jingle-writing contest whose first prize is a moon trip. Instead of the trip, he wins a space suit. And one day, as he's wearing his space s
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Feb 23, 2008
Shoshi
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I read this book after having read _Stranger in a Strange Land_, and was pleasantly surprised. Unlike _Stranger_, _Have Space Suit, Will Travel_ is a joyride through the pre-spaceprogram vision of outerspace and the moon. The heroe's story also gave me pause- learning how to make something as complex as a spacesuit appears less readily available, particularly from such common outlets as mail order catalogues, than it was then.
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Oct 28, 2010
Rasheed
rated it:
Wow! Almost anything I read too soon after this will probably sound bad! This was my first Full Cast Audio, and I must say that the performances of the entire cast was so superb, I wouldn't have been able to imagine the characters any better had I read it. That Peewee character, especially, was just too cute. Even some of the bad guys were so comically well done that it makes me feel bad calling them bad guys!
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Jan 28, 2012
Harry
rated it:
Ok here's the truth. I like reading books before they become movies. Somewhere I found that this book was going to possibly become a movie.
So I asked for it for christmas.
What I didn't know but soon learned is that it is written by the same author as Starship Troopers. Which explains a lot.
I guess I didn't read the description clearly because I didn't know at ALL what I was getting into. My first guess was that a young guy gets a space suit and then makes his way to the moon. More...
So I asked for it for christmas.
What I didn't know but soon learned is that it is written by the same author as Starship Troopers. Which explains a lot.
I guess I didn't read the description clearly because I didn't know at ALL what I was getting into. My first guess was that a young guy gets a space suit and then makes his way to the moon. More...
Oct 29, 2009
Barry
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I listened to this as an audiobook and found it to be just okay. Heinlein was one of the best classic sci-fi novelist ever, so when I saw this book available I thought I'd give it a listen. The story was mildly entertaining, but I found it delving too often into advanced scientific details which I felt detracted from the story itself. I felt like I was back in the university library reading through one of my engineering books at times! I just wasn't drawn into this novel, and after finishing
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Nov 20, 2009
The_Mad_Swede
rated it:
This is my first acquaintance with Heinlein's writing and it has left me definitely wanting to read more of this SF writer.
Have Space Suit — Will Travel is the story of Clifford "Kip" Russell, a high school senior with his mind set on going to the moon. When the Skyway Soap company announces a slogan contest with an all-expenses-paid trip to the moon as first prize, Kip knows he must enter and win. The consolation prize is a real space suit, and seemingly taking the old ada More...
Have Space Suit — Will Travel is the story of Clifford "Kip" Russell, a high school senior with his mind set on going to the moon. When the Skyway Soap company announces a slogan contest with an all-expenses-paid trip to the moon as first prize, Kip knows he must enter and win. The consolation prize is a real space suit, and seemingly taking the old ada More...
Jul 02, 2009
Stephannestacey
rated it:
I love Sci-Fi, but I just didn't like this book. I have to be honest about this one, I really didn't read it so much as listened to it on Audio book which probably would have made my opinion of it different than if I had read it. The readers of this book were B-rated at best and probably ruined the story for me.
As for the story, I felt the characters were underdeveloped with unrealistic solutions to unrealistic problems. Yes, I understand that you must stretch your imagination when More...
As for the story, I felt the characters were underdeveloped with unrealistic solutions to unrealistic problems. Yes, I understand that you must stretch your imagination when More...
Jul 04, 2009
CuriousLibrarian
rated it:
I've been meaning to read the Heinlein juveniles for a long time. This book was really...well, interesting and odd. It is extremely random: Kip's not too bright, so he self-teaches himself until he's a genius - in two years! Then he wins a spacesuit in a soap contest, and gets himself kidnapped by alien space pirates by accident...and it just keeps going. But the more random it got, the more I liked it!
The prose is quite clear, except when it gets obtuse. And I would say that the int More...
The prose is quite clear, except when it gets obtuse. And I would say that the int More...
Dec 11, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
From the get-go I loved this book! I identified with the main character, Kip, right away. I have a dad just like his! The depth of the main character is really shown by how his father treats him which I found a very interesting and profoundly satisfying approach. But, make no mistake -- this book is about Kip and his space suit.
By the end of the book I was willing to believe anything Heinlein wrote. It was very technical on the thought process of Kip and in some places mathema More...
By the end of the book I was willing to believe anything Heinlein wrote. It was very technical on the thought process of Kip and in some places mathema More...
Jan 13, 2009
Matt
rated it:
I'm a public librarian who likes science fiction, and a lot of parents ask me to recommend a good science fiction novel for their children. The problem is that while there is a lot great fantasy for children, there does not seem to be a lot of really great science fiction. Here is one of the few I can recommend.
This novel is probably the most famous of Heinlein's juveniles and by far my favorite of his work.
It's a bit dated, and probably copied in film a lot, but it sti More...
This novel is probably the most famous of Heinlein's juveniles and by far my favorite of his work.
It's a bit dated, and probably copied in film a lot, but it sti More...
May 27, 2011
Tim
rated it:
I grew up on Heinlein's juvenile fiction and can't bring myself to rate any of it less than five stars. It may seem dated and pulpy with characters that are somewhat typical for the genre and it is easier now to see Heinlein's agenda (not that I disagree with it for the most part) in his character's diatribes, but I just can't get enough of them. It is entertaining stuff that makes you think a little if you are inclined.
I listened to this via audiobook It was a "cast recording" More...
I listened to this via audiobook It was a "cast recording" More...
Apr 13, 2011
Joshua
rated it:
As I've said in the other Robert A. Heinlein books I've read the past couple of years--I wish I'd have discovered him when I was a teenager! That's the perfect age to appreciate his tales involving young people on some kind of space adventure. This is another one that is just flat out fun if only slightly dated by slang [my favorite would be: what the deuce?!]. A teenager wins a space suit in a competition and is suddenly kidnapped into space by beings from another world. He meets another human
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Nov 10, 2010
Christopher
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This is the first science-fiction book I ever read as a child, and the one that got me hooked for a lifetime on the genre and Heinlein himself. The fact that it's dated matters not a whit - the story is a delectable space opera, a relativistic romp through our galaxy and its outliers, seen through the eyes of a brilliant rural youth, Kip Russell, and his even more brilliant but "impossible" acquaintance, the irrepressible 12-year-old Patricia ("Peewee") Reisfield. Two less-li
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Feb 09, 2012
Alicia
rated it:
Kip is in love with the idea of going to space and he spends his life pushing for that goal. When he wins a contest and receives his own spacesuit, he decides to fix it up and enjoy it even though he thinks it will never amount to going to space. He is suddenly picked up by a ship while wearing this suit and he is drawn into more drama than he ever imagined possible. For me, the book didn't really pick up until about halfway through and it took a good amount of time to read due to Heinlein's den
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