Farmer in the Sky

by Robert A. Heinlein

My father and I have been working on a research paper together. We are studying the shift of science fiction from space opera towards dystopic and apocalyptic. My father is writing about classic space opera while I am writing about the modern stuff. While I enjoy the modern books, as seen by my reviews, I wanted to review something today that was part of the classic side and one that people may not remember or even have read. FARMER IN THE SKY by Robert A. Heinlein is a juvenile science fiction book published in 1953. Though it was published in 1953 it first appeared in serial format in 1950 in Boy’s Life magazine. The reason why I said it is juvenile is because there wasn’t a YA category in the 1950s but Heinlein wanted to write books that would appeal to the younger audience because they had characters in their teens.

FARMER IN THE SKY is about an eagle scout, which is why it appeared in Boy’s Life. Bill Lermer and his father live on earth which is overcrowded. An opportunity arrives for them to be part of a colony to Ganymede which is one of Jupiter’s moons. There is already a colony set up and when Bill arrives he finds that he doesn’t fit in quite as well as he hoped. They boys are nice, but Bill thought himself to be revolutionary in his thinking and he isn’t. Living on Ganymede proves to be too much for some, but Bill finds it exciting and is even able to do some exploring with some of the other colonists and they find more than they are expecting. I have really condensed the plot down. One of my favorite aspects of this book is Bill’s relationship with his step-sister, Peggy. It is nice to see a book where the step-siblings really get along with each other.

I read FARMER IN THE SKY when I was in high school. At the time I didn’t realize how long ago it had been written. Truthfully, I thought it was written in the 80s. I mean the way it is written is just timeless. The idea of living on one of Jupiter’s moons is still such a fantastical idea. This is a perfect book to get young adults into space opera. Though I recommend it for adults as well.