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About the Book
Based on a true story, this out-of-this-world picture book follows the exciting scientific journey of a chica and a chinita with sky-high aspirations—perfect for fans of Mae Among the Stars and What Miss Mitchell Saw.
Natalia is a chica, an ambitious girl with dreams of becoming a scientist. Luna is a chinita, an adventurous ladybug that dreams of visiting the stars. But neither dream is easy to reach. Ladybugs are meant to munch on garden pests. And no one from Natalia’s family has ever been to college. Still, both Natalia and Luna want más.
Then Natalia’s all-girl class designs an experiment. If astronauts want to live in outer space, they’ll need to grow food. Could chinitas go along to keep the pests away? The girls are eager to find out, and Luna is hungry to help. If their theory is correct, it’s a project worthy of NASA itself—and the stuff all dreams are made of.
This inspiring picture book is based on the real story of Chilean high school girls who convinced NASA to send ladybugs to space!
Book Announcement from Publisher’s Weekly
The Story Behind Ladybug Launch
The Story Behind Ladybug Launch
The story behind the story…
LADYBUG LAUNCH was inspired by true events, and here’s how I came to tell the story with Dr. Natalia Ojeda.
In 2020, I was turning 40 and decided to celebrate by going to a cabin in the woods to write at The Highlights Foundation. (Yes, that’s how a writer celebrates her 40th!) While I was there, I stumbled upon the fact that NASA sent ladybugs to space. I thought, “Hmm, a ladybug aspiring to be an astronaut… What a fun picture book idea!” But I was busy working on a different insect book, and I tucked the idea away.
Over the next few weeks, I randomly found ladybugs here and there in my house, and then one landed on me! Maybe the universe was telling me to get going. So I jumped into my fictional story about a ladybug astronaut, but as I wrote, I thought it might be helpful to know more about the actual NASA experiment.
I learned that NASA had wanted to see if ladybugs could control a swarm of pests, such as aphids, in zero gravity. If they were successful, ladybugs could be a safe and natural pest control for farming food in space. Stay with me here; this is where it gets REALLY interesting…
The scientists behind the experiment were an all-girls class from a modest school in Santiago, Chile. That’s right. You heard me. Children! And the more I read, the more inspired I became.
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