Working the fields of California’s
Central Valley by day and staring up on the stars by night time, younger José M.
Hernández had an unattainable dream: to develop into an astronaut.
Though the U.S.–born migrant
farmworker didn’t communicate English till he was 12, José swore he would notice
that dream. Together with his Mexican dad and mom’ help, he adopted his father’s “recipe”
for fulfillment: “Determine my objective, decide how lengthy it will take me to attain
it and create a plan to succeed in it.” His mom added that he ought to try for
excellence at school, and José contributed his personal particular ingredient: “by no means
ever surrender!” After incomes levels in electrical engineering, he utilized to
NASA and was rejected—11 instances. With the intention to higher his probabilities of getting into
this system, he grew to become a pilot, was licensed as a scuba diver, and discovered
Russian. NASA lastly accepted his 12th software, and in 2009 he
blasted into house. Hernández’s descriptive narrative flows effortlessly in each
English and Baeza Ventura’s Spanish translation and is well accessible. Petruccio’s
colourful and detailed work convey this superb journey to life, hazy
backgrounds giving the scenes a delightful dreamlike high quality. Hernández closes
his account with a heartfelt exhortation to readers to pursue their very own goals,
asking them “Which stars do you need to contact?”
This excellent bilingual
autobiography encapsulates the life-changing energy of getting a objective and the
will to attain it. (Bilingual image guide/biography. 7-12)
