Moon Station

Description

Williams has a school project to do by Friday. He has to design a moon station. Williams has a few ideas - there should be laboratories where the astronauts can do experiments on moon rats, and a space where they can play games like moonstick and snatch. But in the end it's just too hard, and he lets his parents do most of the work. This is what his friend Baxter (whose parents are an astrophysicist and a cosmologist) calls 'outsourcing'. Pretty much everybody does it, apart from Kathleen, a girl in his class who affects Williams strangely. When the projects are presented, they'll be judged by a wing commander who has been on five space missions. On the day of the judging, it's clear that Baxter's entry, a working moon buggy, is the best. But he didn't do it: his parents did. Should the prize then go to Baxter, or his parents? Williams learns a lot about homework, not least that it's possible to do it yourself, and that you can do research at the library (where, as it happens, Kathleen's mum works).

Rachel Flynn was born in Bacchus Marsh (Victoria) on her parents eleventh wedding anniversary. Her mother always told her that she was the best present she ever received. At three years old Rachel was one of the first students at the new kindergarten, then attended Bacchus Marsh Primary School and High School. At 17 she went to Ballarat to train as a teacher, and taught in primary schools in Melbourne before having two children. Since then she has written several books for children and studied for two degrees, a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education. She currently teaches at the Council of Adult Education (Melbourne) in the Professional Writing and Editing course. The two children have grown up and both attend RMIT University in Melbourne. After years of wondering who would give away a baby as an anniversary present, Rachel finally asked her mother and found out that she hadn't literally been a present at all, just a surprise. Rachel Flynn is well known for her hugely successful I Hate Fridays series including I Hate Fridays, It s Not Fair, Worried Sick, I Can't Waitand Messing Around. Some of these books have been shortlisted for several awards chosen by children themselves. Sacked, illustrated by Craig Smith, and Whisper Wild, Freedom Child (illustrated by Anna Pignataro) were both published in 2000. The Goat, the Duck