2007-05-08 The best juvenile sci-fi hokum for the novice reader

Max Jones is desperate to get into space,and be an Astrogator like his uncle before him, so when the opportunity arises, he lies his way on board a starship, gets found out, and then the mcguffin strikes - max has a super memory, and when the pilot gets them lost, tries to cover up his mistake and get killed, Max, who has read all his uncle's star charts and tables - and memorised them - uses his ability to navigate the ship back through a space warp to safety. Undemanding stuff, typically Heinlein in character and characterisation, but still a good read. I first read it 30 years ago, and I still have it on my shelf, and I'll admit to occasionally reading through it again on a wet Sunday!