How very appropriate! Hoorah for Kenneth Oppel!
Oppel's take is at his blog, Kenneth Oppel!
From the Quill & Quire:
According to a press release from the Canada Council for the Arts, astronaut Robert Thirsk, currently aboard the International Space Station with fellow Canadian Julie Payette, has brought with him two books by Canadian authors – Airborn by Kenneth Oppel and Deux pas vers les étoiles by Jean-Rock Gaudreault.
From CBC:
Oppel, who is probably best known for his Silverwing trilogy, was thrilled to learn that his novel was chosen for this journey. "I'm so honoured that Robert Thirsk chose to take my novel Airborn with him on his six-month mission," he said.
Airborn is the story of a 15-year-old cabin boy who sets out to find a mysterious flying creature.
"It's completely thrilling to think of it in orbit aboard the International Space Station," Oppel said in a release from the Canada Council for the Arts.
"I'm very proud of Canada's involvement in the ISS and the astronauts really do exemplify the best of human co-operation, learning and enterprise. I'm delighted that my book is in such stellar company."
How cool! Any bit of good space news/gossip is cheering to me, for some reason.
Speaking of books in space, have you ever read The Green Book by Jill Patton Walsh? It can start some lively discussion along the lines of "If you could take only ONE book with you to another planet, what would it be?" I'd definitely want to pool resources with other travelers so we didn't arrive wih three copies of Hamlet and none of Twelfth Night.
No! Have not read The Green Book! Sounds like something I would like. Ha, three copies of Hamlet...worse (for me) 10 copies of Twilight!