Mikaelsen, Ben. Countdown

Mikaelsen, Ben. Countdown. Hyperion, 1996 [0-7868-1208-7]
Two parallel stories meet at the end of this 246 page book. One is of Elliot, a student chosen to fly on the Shuttle. The other is of Vincent, a Massai herder who is struggling with an internal conflict of the old ways and the ways he learns from the school and hospital near his village. Near the end of the story the Massai boy is at the school and hears a Ham Radio message from the boy on the shuttle. The two fourteen-year-olds defend their own cultures and way of lives and argue in a way which gets the whole world interested. Along the way, the reader learns much about astronautics and the Massai way of life. It is a great discussion starter about the values of various cultures.