An estimated hundred and fifty million asteroids soaring through our solar system are big enough to level a city. Two million are big enough to destroy a whole continent. Though scientists have found many of them, we don’t really know where all the dangerous asteroids are or when the next one will strike.
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Asteroids bombard our atmosphere all the time. Some are harmless, burning up completely in a flash of light,
or breaking into bits of rock that scatter on the Earth.
But others explode in the sky with a great sonic boom, smashing windows and throwing people to the ground. Worst of all, some asteroids strike our planet head-on, blasting out massive craters and destroying everything nearby on impact.
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~Subaru Prize for Science Writing~
~ Best Book of 2017 by SLJ ~
~ ALA Notable~
~ Bank Street Best Book of the Year ~
~ Junior Library Guild selection ~
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Photography by Karin Anderson www.karinanderson.com
That’s why a group of dedicated scientists are searching for asteroids in space, studying asteroids that have smashed into the ground, and are making plans to prevent an asteroid strike if a giant space rock is found to be heading our way.Join award-winning nonfiction author Elizabeth Rusch and photographer Karin Andersen in the field for a meteorite hunt, to the edge of an impact crater to survey past damage, into a geology lab to examine space rocks, and to an observatory where telescopes probe the vastness of space, searching for asteroids on a collision course with Earth. It’s a scientific journey that just might save our planet.
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HMH Books for Young Readers
November 14, 2017
ISBN-10: 0544671597
ISBN-13: 978-0544671591
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REVIEWS
School Library Journal, ★ Starred Review ★
"Compelling reading”
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[IMPACT] makes complicated concepts understandable for younger readers without oversimplifying, and the accompanying photos and graphics are both informative and appealing. The scientists’ enthusiasm for their work is palpable, which makes for compelling reading, and their experiences allow readers to visualize themselves in similar roles as they think about their futures…Purchase this to excite space buffs and inspire future scientists.
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KIRKUS
“Lavishly illustrated”
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BOOKLIST
“Sure to have an impact on young astronomers”
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THE HORN BOOK
“Fascinating…vivid…excellent.”
Impact profiles a collection of astronomers, geologists, and meteorite hunters. [It offers] a fascinating look at the technologies proposed (or in development) to protect Earth from a major impact…vivid photographs…[and] excellent diagrams, maps, and artistic renderings.
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