Calculated Orbits: Finding Your Center in Zero Gravity, (Paperback)

<b>Three hundred miles above Earth, eleven-year-old Mara Patel has exactly six minutes to figure out whether she actually belongs at the first middle school in orbit.</b><p>When Kepler Orbital Academy selects one hundred kids worldwide for its inaugural year in low orbit, Mara earns her seat with perfect test scores and a head full of orbital mechanics. But the moment her shuttle docks, the doubts arrive faster than the zero gravity hits: her flight suit doesn't look the way it does in the promo videos, her stomach won't stop flipping, and every mistake she makes floats in mid-air for everyone to see. Up here, the hardest gravity to escape is the one inside her own head - and the only way down is through.</p>Readers ages 8 to 12 will love: <ul><li> A real space-station boarding school packed with hydroponics labs, microgravity engineering, and high-stakes orbital missions</li><li> An anxious and brilliant heroine discovering that her body and her brain are not problems to be solved</li><li> A found-family crew - Sam, Theo, Juno, and Eli - who argue, laugh, and refuse to let each other drift</li><li> Real STEM woven into real feelings, perfect for fans of <i>Space Case</i>, <i>The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole</i>, and <i>Hello, Universe</i></li></ul><p><b>For every kid who has ever felt like they were floating in the wrong orbit - Mara's story is waiting.</b></p>

• Calculated Orbits: Finding Your Center in Zero Gravity, (Paperback)
• Author: Independently Published
• ISBN: 9798195234195
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2026-05-02
• Page Count: 332