I Can See My House from Here: 30 Great Astronaut Books

While not very many men have been to space, even fewer women have visited. It started with Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. And more women are choosing the field every year, working hard to gain a place among the stars. This is a look at 23 who have made it.

Sally Ride was the first American woman in space! And while millions know about her space exploits, this biography delves deep into her closely guarded personal life.

And this book is not about astronauts, per se, but without the work of these Black women mathematicians at NASA decades ago, the U.S. may not have beat the Soviet Union in the space race, or even made it to the stars.

Before The Martian came along, this was probably the most famous book about astronauts that had been published, fiction or nonfiction. New York Times bestselling author Wolfe took an incisive look into the lives and families of American astronauts Yeager, Conrad, Grissom, and Glenn.

In this novel, space exploration is so common that they have schools for it (with old equipment and poor funding). Jane is a child genius who dreams of going to space one day, but achieving her dreams will not go the way she expected.

And who better to write a novel set in space than an actual astronaut??? Hadfield’s thriller is set in the 1970s and follows a mission to the moon that might turn deadly.

In the first book in this Locus Award winning trilogy, a disgraced space captain will have to rely on the help of an undead and unstable tactician to retake a fortress.

This book collects the three amazing, award-winning novellas about a young girl who is the first of her people to travel to space. Binti looks forward to attending Oomza University, but her trip there is interrupted by an alien race, and it teaches Binti more about herself and the universe than she knew.

And this is probably the most famous 21st century novel about astronauts. It’s the story of an astronaut accidentally left behind on Mars, who has to figure out unconventional ways to stay alive while trying to get word back to Earth that he’s still alive.

This is the tale of the first crewed space flight to leave Earth’s orbit and to orbit the moon. The story of this adventure reads like a thriller, with lots of decisions coming down to the wire and many seemingly impossible obstacles that were overcome.

This is not just about astronauts, but many of the women that have made space travel possible. Using 21 interviews conducted for the NASA Oral History Projects, Ross-Nazzal paints a complete picture of all the different work required to get astronauts up into the skies.

In this picture book, Astrid has big dreams of becoming an astronaut, and thinks her life as a pretend astronaut is preparing her for the job. But she learns that she’s going to need a lot more than make believe if she wants to make it to the stars for real.

And this is an award-nominated novel, about three siblings in 1986 as the world gets ready for the launch of the Challenger. Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas are kids in Delaware with their own struggles and dreams, one of whom hopes to one day make their own trip to space.

This beautifully illustrated picture book will teach children about 50 different women and their space-related adventures, from Ada Lovelace and her computer in the 19th century to the women leading the way towards Mars exploration.

Katherine Johnson’s life was made famous in the book and movie Hidden Figures. As one of NASA’s first Black women mathematicians, she helped get missions off the ground. She tells her own story in this memoir for children (and in her memoir for adults: My Remarkable Journey).

This is a biography of Chawla, the first woman of Indian origin to go to space (and who tragically died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003). Chawla came to the U.S. from India to study to be an astronaut and never once doubted her path. You can also learn more about her next year in Chelsea Clinton’s She Persisted series with Kalpana Chawla by Raakhee Mirchandani.

And if you like exciting YA astronaut books, check this one out! A century after the Earth is taken over by an alien race, the abduction of the human liaison’s teen son by a revolutionary group sparks the start of what will lead to a fight for the Earth’s survival.

Melvin is such a fascinating figure in the space world, I had to include two books about him! This also discusses his first career as an NFL player, and how he overcame obstacles to finally get play among the stars.

And this is a delightfully illustrated picture book about Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel to space. It shows Jemison as a young girl with big dreams, and how she finally mae-d (sorry not sorry) it to the stars.

And last but not least, another adorable picture book (and weirdly also about a little girl named Astrid), who spends the day with her father pretending to be an astronaut while she waits for her mother to come home from work. If you are looking for astronaut books for toddlers, this one has adorable illustrations.