Exoplanets

Worlds beyond Our Solar System

  • Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 12
  • Reading Level: Grade 8

Until the mid-1990s, scientists only guessed that the universe held exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system. But using advanced physics and powerful telescopes, scientists have since identified more than three thousand exoplanets. This work has revealed fascinating worlds, including a planet that oozes lavalike fluids and a planet that glows bright pink.

Even more fascinating, scientists think that some exoplanets might contain life. Many orbit in the Goldilocks zone, the region around a star that’s not too hot or too cold for liquid water, a key ingredient for life. This book examines exoplanets, the possibilities for life beyond Earth, and the cutting-edge technologies scientists use to learn about distant worlds.

Format Your Price Add
978-1-5124-0086-1
$26.99
978-1-5124-3909-0
$40.99
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Interest Level Grade 6 - Grade 12
Reading Level Grade 8
Genre Science, Young Adult
Category 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Traditional Nonfiction, STEM, STEM: Space Science
Copyright 2017
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Twenty-First Century Books ™
Language English
Number of Pages 88
Publication Date 2017-01-01
Reading Counts! Level 10.6
Text Type Informational/Explanatory
BISACS YAN050020, YAN055010
Dewey 523.2/4
Dimensions 6 x 9
Lexile 1120
ATOS Reading Level 7.7
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 187754
Accelerated Reader® Points 3.0
Features Author/Illustrator biography, Bibliography/further reading, Glossary, Index, Primary source quotations/images, Reviewed, Source notes, and Table of contents

Author: Karen Latchana Kenney

Karen Latchana Kenney is an Indian-Irish author and editor, born near the equator in Guyana, and raised far north in Minnesota. She writes both fiction and nonfiction stories about scientific wonders and discoveries, immigrant and biracial experiences, momentous historical events, and civil rights struggles. Her books have received several starred reviews and have been named a 2025 Minnesota Book Awards Finalist, a 2025 Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards Finalist, a 2023 Mathical Book Prize Honor book, and a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. She lives in Minnesota with her designer-musician husband and mathematician–robot-building son, where they explore all the wild places they can find. Find her online at https://www.karenlatchanakenney.com.

Reviews

School Library Journal

“Perfect for outer space enthusiasts and out of this world for report writers.”—School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

“An enticing overview of tools, techniques, and discoveries in what the author rightly characterizes ‘a red-hot field in astronomy.’ . . . [Readers] will come away satisfied and intrigued.”—Kirkus Reviews