Originally published on Anna Elizabeth Judd.
Daniel Weber draws the worlds he visits in his sleep. At first, they seem like the work of an imaginative teenager—until a deep-space satellite begins sending back images that look disturbingly familiar.
That mystery launches A Distant Calling, Anna Elizabeth Judd’s YA space adventure novel, which trades her familiar Western landscapes for distant planets and a threat to Earth’s future.
Daniel is a 10th grader at Liton High School who lives near Kennedy Space Center with his parents and his sister, Jill. His father, Alex Weber, is a scientist and designer in NASA’s satellite division.
Within the novel, Alex has built Sweeper, a deep-space satellite launched in 2008 to explore Alpha Centauri and search for signs of life.
Daniel shares his father’s fascination with space, but his own connection to it takes a different form. Vivid dreams send him to unfamiliar places, and drawing is the only way he knows to make sense of what he sees.
When two of his drawings win the school’s annual art show, it appears to be a proud moment for a talented student. Then the dreams begin carrying messages and warnings.
As Sweeper approaches the Alpha Centauri system and returns images from a planet called Alpha Proxima in the story, Daniel’s private visions become part of a much larger mystery. What once belonged in his sketchbook may hold clues to a danger facing everyone on Earth.
Who will enjoy this book
This adventure may appeal to:
- Teens who enjoy space exploration and first-contact mysteries.
- Young artists who understand the pull of putting an imagined world on paper.
- Families interested in rockets, satellites, and stories about what lies beyond Earth.
- Readers who like science fiction driven by both discovery and suspense.
Why pick it up
The story brings together two ways of exploring the unknown: a scientist’s instruments and a young artist’s imagination.
Daniel is not simply watching adults make discoveries. His drawings place him inside the mystery, giving his creativity a purpose no one expected.
For a reader who enjoys looking at the night sky and wondering what might be out there, that combination offers an inviting doorway into a longer adventure.
Where to go next
Younger readers with questions about the world around them can try Skimmer’s Adventure. Those who prefer horses to spaceships can meet Haystack in The Boy Who Couldn’t Talk.
