Calculated Orbits: Finding Your Center in Zero Gravity

By callie jones

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.

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.

Readers ages 8 to 12 will love: A real space-station boarding school packed with hydroponics labs, microgravity engineering, and high-stakes orbital missions An anxious and brilliant heroine discovering that her body and her brain are not problems to be solved A found-family crew - Sam, Theo, Juno, and Eli - who argue, laugh, and refuse to let each other drift Real STEM woven into real feelings, perfect for fans of Space Case, The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole, and Hello, Universe

For every kid who has ever felt like they were floating in the wrong orbit - Mara's story is waiting.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GZCTNMDT
• ISBN13: 9798195234195
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 332 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"