By Mark Kelly
A tiny mouse gets picked for a real space shuttle mission and saves the day when only someone very small can reach the loose part.
Meteor is the littlest mouse in the group training to fly on the space shuttle. Everyone assumes the bigger mice will be more useful, and Meteor almost gets left behind. But once they're in orbit, a key part floats loose and wedges into a gap too small for anyone's hand, and it's the smallest mouse on the crew who wriggles in and fixes it. It's written by Mark Kelly, who actually flew on the shuttle, and the mission details feel real because they are.
It scratches the space itch with a real shuttle mission while telling a story every small child feels in their bones: being the littlest and worrying you're not needed, then turning out to matter most. The astronaut author means the details ring true, so a space-obsessed child gets both a warm story and the real thing. And it says being small is a strength, which is a nice thing to hand a young child.