Countdown

I have used this book with my 7th graders for the last two years and I have had good results with my students. I stopped another book we were reading as a class right after September 11, 2001 and had my classes read this book. There are many great lessons in this book. The two boys are from different cultures, have different Gods, and different cultural beliefs. I used these topics to lead many interesting discussions not only about the book, but how our culture and other cultures see each other and have different ways of working out our differences. I HIGHLY recommend this book as a teacher.

I got this book after grocery shopping. I was looking in the multicultural section because I desperately needed a book for a project in school. I looked at it and I didn't really think it would be that great but it was so good that an hour later I was asking my mom to get me a new book! The ending wasn't that great but otherwise it was the best book! All of the charactors actions were surprising. I highly recomend this book!

Countdown by Ben MikaelsenPeople from different cultures fight about many things. They argue about their religious beliefs, their customs, and their style of dress. In Countdown, by Ben Mikaelsen, a Maasai herder, Vincent Ole Tome, says that junior astronaut Elliot Schroeder wears pants in order to trap his gas. In this way the two boys exchange insults about each other's practices during conversations between the Space Shuttle Endeavour and Vincent's home in Kenya, Africa. From a Montana ranch near Big Timber, Elliot, a fourteen year old dreamer, was selected to be the first junior astronaut in space. Vincent's teacher and friend, the doctor Sambeke, arranges conversations between Space Boy Elliot and the African boy using a ham radio. During their conversations the two teenagers find they have little in common. They disagree about almost everything from the clothes they wear to the way their gods look. Elliiot wears pants while Vincent dresses in a red toga, or sheet. Vincent believes that his God, Engai, is a black female with a beautiful bald head. Elliot imagines a god who is a white man with long brown hair and a beard. Due to a difficulty with the flight, Endeavour lands in Senegal, Africa, providing a chance for the two boys to meet. Shuttle Commander Beaman and Sambeke offer wise advice to the boys, suggesting they listen to one another other more carefully. They should get to know each other before jumping to conclusions.The boys forget that the entire world listens as they argue and learn about each other. We recommend this book to readers who dream about friendships developing between people of different cultures. Two separate lives, two separate stories combine into one by the end. Review by Mrs. Murphy's fifth grade class in Cut Bank, Montana

When I first read this, I could not put it down. It introduced to me two very different cultures, and how they connect together with each other, and the story itself. The livid descriptions of training as an astronaut, has not only interested me, but has influenced me to have it as one of my careers. I'll treasure this book all my life, for it has touched me in a way, that no other book has done before.

This book is about two people coming to respect other cultures, customs and people. Elliot Schroeder is a 14 year-old boy living in the United States. Vincent Ole Tome is a Maasai boy living in Kenya. In the US, there is a contest that sends Elliot into outer space in the Endeavour. He is to contact different people across the world with a ham radio, and record their names. Vincent is one of those people. In this book, the two never agree on anything. Later on, they both come to understand and respect one another when there is an accident, and the craft is forced to land early.