The Boy Who Reached for the Stars: A Memoir

by Elio Morillo

Overview

“Inspiring and joyous.”—People

"Heartwarming . . . infectious . . . Morillo's The Boy Who Reached for the Stars is every bit the inspiration he means it to be."—Kirkus Reviews

The engineer known as the “space mechanic” speaks to both our future and past in this breathless memoir of his journey from Ecuador to NASA and beyond.

Elio Morillo’s life is abruptly spun out of orbit when economic collapse and personal circumstances compel his mother to flee Ecuador for the United States in search of a better future for her son. His itinerant childhood sets into motion a migration that will ultimately carry Elio to the farthest expanse of human endeavor: space.

Overcoming a history of systemic adversity and inequality in public education, Elio forged ahead on a journey as indebted to his galactic dreams as to a loving mother whose sacrifices safeguarded the ground beneath his feet. Today, Elio is helping drive human expansion into the solar system and promote the future of human innovation—from AI and robotics to space infrastructure and equitable access.

The Boy Who Reached the Stars is both a cosmic and intimate memoir spun from a constellation of memories, reflections, and intrepid curiosity, as thoroughly luminous as the stars above.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063214316
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	174,633
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Elio Morillo is a space systems engineer at Blue Origin working on lunar programs. Previously he worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Mars 2020 mission, where he was a system testbed and operations engineer for the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity, the Mars helicopter. Born in Ecuador and raised in Puerto Rico and New York, Elio graduated from the University of Michigan with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in electrical engineering as well as a master’s in systems engineering and design. In his free time, he enjoys giving talks on space, volunteering, and mentoring. Elio is passionate about exploration, expansion, and equitable access to space.

Editorial Reviews

"Heartwarming. . . . Morillo’s wonder at and pride in his experience is infectious . . . The Boy Who Reached for the Stars is every bit the inspiration he means it to be." — Kirkus Reviews

“This intimate memoir follows Morillo through a difficult, sometimes treacherous childhood to an adult life as a NASA scientist. Inspiring and joyous.” — People

"Elio traveled from Ecuador to Puerto Rico to NASA to Mars. The story behind his robots reaching another planet is also the guide for everyone of us to aim beyond our atmosphere. It's a personal, humble story of family and engineering. Science and love. But also a blueprint so anybody, especially you, can reach beyond our planet and push harder. No matter who you are. No matter where you were born."  — Freddy Vega, CEO of Platzi

"This memoir is everything I needed to read as a young Latina dreaming of the stars. Elio Morillo not only perfectly conveys the reality many of us face but he also illuminates the way, so those that will come after us will know what's ahead waiting for them." — Katya Echazarreta, First Mexican-born Woman in Space and Electrical Engineer

From the Publisher

2023-03-25
An Ecuadorean immigrant and NASA “space mechanic” blends his story with that of the Mars 2020 mission.

In his debut memoir, Morillo tracks his spectacular rise to “systems testbed engineer” in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As he traces his trajectory from Ecuador to New York and Puerto Rico and eventually into the field where he thrives today, he focuses on his education, the doors it opened, and the support he had in its pursuit, particularly from his mother. Along the way, brief asides of aerospace history build toward more technical content in later chapters as Morillo describes the launch of the Mars rover Perseverance and its groundbreaking partner helicopter system Ingenuity. Told in straightforward, earnest prose, the book reads as part motivational keynote and part dinner-table storytelling. Whether because of his youth or his scientific disposition, the author moves quickly over some elements of his life story—e.g., his parents’ fraught relationship; navigating language barriers; a school counselor lowering his grades to make them “believable” for an “immigrant student”; and work burnout, which he teases throughout the text. Though he sidesteps sensationalism, he also bypasses deeper reflection, trivializing some of his metaphors. Still, his story maintains a heartwarming gravitational pull, and Morillo’s wonder at and pride in his experience is infectious. The narrative is every bit the inspiration he means it to be to young Latine readers considering STEM careers. The author writes that a completed launch or landing is “also only another beginning,” and with this book, he creates his own new beginning, a platform from which to offer useful insight in many areas: standardized testing, diversity in STEM careers, and how the immigrant experience colors everything from the pressure to succeed in school to the management of burnout.

A charming story about realizing one’s potential in our vast universe.

Kirkus Reviews

Timothy Andrés Pabon speaks softly as he narrates Morillo's first-person account of his childhood. Morillo, who immigrated to New York from Ecuador with his mother, is now a systems engineer for Blue Origin. Previously, he worked on the Mars 2020 team. Pabon puts determination into Morillo's words as the space engineer recalls his drive to learn. At one point, Pabon delivers a tense action scene in which Morillo recounts bullets flying when a fugitive turned up in his neighborhood. Mostly, the recollections revolve around his studies and his protective family. Pabon's voice captures the sting of a college rejection letter and the sadness of deaths in Morillo's family. Morillo also tells listeners about his work, making the Mars project a metaphor for working through the pandemic. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2023 - AudioFile