Help me identify this long-forgotten YA novel about teens in space

October 31, 2021 3:04 AM

I am trying to remember the title and author of a book I read as a child about a group of teenagers who compete to live on a space station. Read on for the details I remember.

Okay, here we go. So I probably read this somewhere between 1990-1995. I definitely got it out of the library, although I can't remember if it was the public library or the one at school. If it matters, I lived in a small town in British Columbia until 1996. This leads me to believe it must have been a fairly popular book if I had access to it.

Here are some details that stand out: four teens are at a very competitive Space Camp training program. A plain-jane American midwestern girl, an guy who is described as being Japanese, a nondescript white dude and a girl with wild curly hair who everyone thinks is a princess who won't make it through the program because she's assumed to be too dumb, or maybe that she's bought her way in. They all end up at the same cafeteria table on their first day and decide to band together. They do eventually all make it through training and onto the spaceship although not before the nondescript white dude is almost cut from the program for failing some kind of visual acuity challenge because nobody realizes he needs glasses.

Here is the last scene I remember: the curly haired girl is in her cabin crying because a fellow crew member accused her of wasting water with too many baths. She is so mad that she sits down and in five minutes has written a code or formula to tell the ship how to pull expelled moisture out of the air and into a ship-wide water recycling program.

So yeah. I've googled but haven't come up with anything. I was reading a lot of Bruce Coville back then but from looking over the long list of his published books I don't think he is the author. Is this ringing any bells for anyone?

posted by janepanic to Writing & Language (7 answers total)

Best answer: Maybe this one, The Young Astronauts?
posted by booky at 3:27 AM on October 31, 2021

It seems really similar to the plot of the movie Space Camp, was it a tie-in maybe?
posted by chocotaco at 4:32 AM on October 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

My first thought was Enders Game or one of the sequels but I’m not remembering enough details to be sure.
posted by raccoon409 at 4:34 AM on October 31, 2021

Not the Space Camp movie or book. They sneaked into a shuttle being tested and accidentally got launched.

(Space Camp alumni '83)
posted by zengargoyle at 5:26 AM on October 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

I don’t remember specific plot points, so probably not but This Place has No Atmosphere ?
posted by OrangeVelour at 6:18 AM on October 31, 2021

Response by poster: I think it was indeed The Young Astronauts. Thanks, Booky!
posted by janepanic at 7:02 AM on October 31, 2021

Confirming 100% The Young Astronauts. There were six books published in the series. The scene where Noemi cries because she can't keep taking really long showers happened once the gang was in space, so likely book 3 or 4. So you read pretty far in the series, @janepanic.

I actually re-purchased these paperbacks used a few years ago. They held up fairly decently for 80s YA.
posted by bronwensaurus at 4:20 PM on November 2, 2021